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Education

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Original poster

when and why did schools rename the years?

55 replies

headfairy · 14/05/2012 12:28

when I started secondary school in 1981 I started in the first year, then I went in to the second year etc, after O levels (remember them?) I went in to lower 6th and then upper 6th for my A levels. I know it's all changed now, secondary starts at year 7 an' all that, but when and why did it happen? Does anyone refer to Y13 (I don't think I've ever heard anyone refer to themselves or anyone else as being in Y13) or are they still upper and lower somethings?

OP posts:

CMOTDibbler · 14/05/2012 14:01

1989 - my 6th form refused to be known as yr 12 and 13

PestoPenguin · 14/05/2012 14:03

When I was at junior school, the years were called 1, 2, 3, 4. I left in 1990.

I was at an independent secondary school that had its own daft system, but I know that very soon after I started other secondaries started having year 13s etc. I agree, I think it coincided with the start of the national curriculum.

The following is from here

"The National Curriculum was introduced into primary schools in 1989, and implementation across the primary and secondary phases continued into the mid-1990s. The first run of Key Stage testing was completed in 1991. In 1993 responsibility for school inspections was transferred from Her Majesty's Inspectors and local authority inspection teams to independent inspection teams, the work of which would be co-ordinated by a new Non-Ministerial Department of State, the then Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). "

smalltown · 14/05/2012 14:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

chocoroo · 14/05/2012 14:09

I'm fairly sure it was 1991 - I left Primary School in 4th Year Juniors and started secondary in Year 7. We still had 6th Form though but for Year 12 & 13.

crazymum53 · 14/05/2012 14:24

My first year at secondary school was Upper 3 followed by lower 4, upper 4 etc.
Was a girls grammar school so not particularly posh really.

My brother school was Shells then Inter then Remove and lower 5 , upper 5 etc.

When I was primary school, classes were number of Year group and teachers initials but first year juniors was back to number 1 etc. Similar system at dds primary school but just the numbers have changed.

dd is now Y7 at secondary school and yes the sixth form students are referred to as Y12 and Y13!

Whoopydofoxpoo · 14/05/2012 15:43

I am not going to contribute as it will show my age

Needless to say the 'new' school years totality baffled me until my own children went to school !

EvilTwins · 14/05/2012 18:20

I went from 4th year in 1989-90 to Year 11 in 1990-91. It was pretty galling to spend 4 years in school and NOT get to be a 5th year - we were all desperate to be 5th years. Then I went to 6th Form College and we were 1st year and 2nd year again.

I teach now - am Head of 6th Form, but they're Year 12s and Year 13s. No student has ever asked why it's called "6th Form"!

Hulababy · 14/05/2012 18:23

I started secondary school in 1986, going into the 3rd year (we had a three tier system at the time). This is now Y9.
My sister is 9/10 years younger than me and she went into secondary school using the new system. But sixth form was still that, not Y12/13.

Hulababy · 14/05/2012 18:24

I left sixth form in 1989, so yes - 1990 would make sense I guess.

Hulababy · 14/05/2012 18:24

Oh - and I didn't start secondary school in 86 either!! Was before that - was 84 I think.

stargirl1701 · 14/05/2012 18:33

We never did here in Scotland

LovelyLovelyWine · 14/05/2012 18:36

I left sixth form in 1995 and it was still upper sixth then

KatieMiddleton · 14/05/2012 18:40

Sixth form was known as years 12 & 13 at my school. But I wasn't even born until 1981

JeanBodel · 14/05/2012 18:49

Yes, is it all primaries where years are no longer numbers, but names?

I have speculated on the reason for this - to stop elitism based on age, maybe?

It does make it impossible for a newcomer to work out how old a child in 'Brunel' class might be.

piratecat · 14/05/2012 18:53

it is so confusing, i just remember it as take away six, for the equivalent .

ie YR7 is 1st Year (7 minus 6) and so on.

Whoopydofoxpoo · 14/05/2012 18:54

No most primaries have numbers - Yr 1 to Yr 6 or have I missed something ?

When I was in Junior school it was J1 = Yr3 , J2 = Y4 etc

Are you talking about year names in private sector Jean?

insancerre · 14/05/2012 18:54

when I passed the 11+ and went to the grammar school, the year was called 2nd year because we did an extra year at middle school. We had first school then middle school, none of this infants and juniors nonsense
but that was in Norfolk. I think they have only just caught up with the rest of the country the last couple of years

mirry2 · 14/05/2012 18:55

I think lots of private schools still use the older form ie lower and upper 6th

Emandlu · 14/05/2012 18:59

I left secondary school in 1993 and went through years 1 to 5. Then went to 6th Form college - Lower and Upper 6th.

I think that the year that followed us had years 7-11 though, so we were in 2nd year but the year below us was year 7.

It was all made more confusing by the fact that the middle schools closed just before I left primary school, so some of the people in their 1st year at our secondary school were in 3rd year.

designerbaby · 15/05/2012 16:54

My school did Lower/Upper First/Second/Third/Fourth/Fifth/Sixth.
It was quite posh, but I'm not. (Scholarship girl/token poor person )

Every time someone talks about the modern school years I have to count on my fingers to work them out...

It's ridiculous. I'm hoping it will finally sink in when DDs are in the system. But I fear there's a strong likelihood I'll still be counting on my fingers when she's in year, gawd, 27 or whatever.

They're going to be embarrassed aren't they. Oh there goes DB'sDD. She's the one with the mad mother who keeps wiggling her fingers and talking to herself.

db
xx

Quenelle · 15/05/2012 16:59

I've often wondered this. I left school (fifth year, didn't do A levels) in 1985.

I have also moved to a county that has the three tier system so am having to get used to lower, middle and upper schools as well.

None of it actually matters for me until DS starts next year anyway.

Slight sidetrack, but when did the First Division become the Premiership?

BertieBotts · 15/05/2012 17:07

Sixth form never referred to it being the 6th year at the school though, it starts from what used to be Junior School, each "form" refers to two years, so you have upper/lower Xth formers.

Infants (?) = YR/Y1
1st form = Y2/3 } Infants
------
2nd form = Y4/5 } Juniors
3rd form = Y6/7
------
4th form = Y8/9
5th form = Y10/11 } Seniors
6th form = Y12/13

I don't know when it changed but lots of schools switched to the primary/secondary system rather than having Infants, Juniors and Seniors. I know when I moved up to year 4 in 1996 in the first assembly of the year the headmistress reminded the new year 6 pupils that they were now the oldest in the school, "No year sevens to look up to now!" and I wondered where they had gone.

Popoozle · 15/05/2012 17:13

It must have changed later than the norm here then! I was in the 5th year in 1990/91, lower 6th in 1991/92 and upper 6th in 1992/93!

DS1 is now in Year 9 at the same school however, so it must have changed somewhere after 1993!

Popoozle · 15/05/2012 17:16

Oh, and when I was at primary school there was no "Year" anything. We were just in Mrs Smith's class, then Mr Brown's class, then Miss Sykes' class etc. etc.

mumeeee · 15/05/2012 17:49

Not sure why but it was like this when my eldest started school and she's 25. She stayed on to 6th form at school and it was known as year 12 and year 13 there think it still is.

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