UK schools (have they changed in terms of years)

[Joop557]

When I went to school (DoB 1987), i went to these (ages are approx)
primary 7-9
middle school 10-12/13
high school 13-16 (though they also had a small college there with age 17/18).

however my nephews is different. From what I know it’s been
first school 6-9
secondary 10-16

the elder one just joined secondary.

I’m aware of the key stages but I have a few questions:

1. Did it used to always be like my experience around the country 20 years ago?
2. Are most public schools in Uk set where it’s primary 7-9, secondary 10-16. All in the same school building?
3. Why did they join the middle and high schools up - was it mainly cost cutting?

I'm older than you - infants was 4-7, juniors 7-11, secondary 11-16, sixth form 16-18 . Smaller primaries were 4-11. All London state schools followed this pattern

My dc went to primary 4-10, high school 10-14, upper school 14-18. It's changed since they left to the standard set up

I went to a "middle school" too!
Primary till year 6
Middle school till end of year 9 and then what we called "upper school" years 10 and 11.
The best part of "upper school" was you didn't have to wear uniform felt very grown up. 😉
That was in Leicestershire. Don't live there now so couldn't tell you if it is the same! Born 1989.

Middle schools are uncommon now. Some areas still have them but not many.

Scotland

P1 - P7, starting at 5
S1- S6, leaving at 18.

No middle schools.

I thought Northumberland was one of the last counties where the three-tier system was still in use, largely because of the wide spread of the rural communities. At least, that's what I was told by my dc's first school headteacher. It ran:

YR-Y4 first school
Y5-Y8 middle school
Y9-Y12 high school

I went to primary and secondary in London in the eighties and nineties was very surprised to find out there were other systems in use when I started looking for schools for my own children.

Born in the seventies, I was
primary age 4-11
secondary 11-16
sixth form 16-18

There are still some places that have middle school but they are not country wide and never have been.
I was born in 1974 I did primary school from 5-11 we called it reception to year 6
then secondary from 11-16 called year 1-5 now called year 7 -11
Now some schools also have 6th form from 16-17 was called 6th form and upper 6th now year 12 and 13

I work in a high school and of course the older ones know not to kick and punch. My primary aged child knows this. We also do not tolerate any peer on peer abuse whatsoever. Our younger students learn a huge amount from our older ones and we have buddy systems, house systems, clubs, friendship groups, prefect responsibilities etc, all aimed at fostering relationships across the setting.

If your nephew is unhappy and there's a problem with bullying, that needs addressing.

We had
Pre juniors (can't remember the actual name) for up to two years
Juniors 1 - 5 (6 - 10/11 yrs)
Secondary 1 - 5 (11 to 16 yrs)

We had infants (reception -y2)
Juniors (yr3-yr6)
Middle (Yr7-9)
Secondary (yr10-11)
6th form (yr11-12)

They were all separate schools but by the times I reached middle, the middle and secondary school were merging so we had some classes in middle and some in the high school and eventually it closed all together.

I was born in the early 1960s and went to infants from age 4/5 to age 7 (reception to Y2 but not called that at that time) , juniors from 7/8 to 11 (Y3 to Y6), then secondary from 11/12 to 17 (left at end of lower sixth, now known as Y12. My 80's born DC's did the same and actually, my mum and her siblings did as well and they were born during the war. I didn't even know there was another system until I became friends with another mum when our DC's started school together.

School starting age in England has been 4 (5 if early September birthday) for 50+ years - you're misremembering, or maybe you're in Scotland?

Not everywhere - in Berkshire when my two started, it was the term after their 5th birthday. They are 34 & 32 now.

I'm not sure when it changed, possibly at the same time as the KS1 class size limit in 2001/2 - I know DD had 32 in her class all through her infant school time.

at least if it’s middle school then high school, it’s then 13s to 16s mixing. ^

We have first/middle/high school, and I love the system for this reason! My big, smelly nearly 14-year old left middle school (y6-y8) in July - more than ready for high school. DD started middle school in Sept- bored of first school, delighted to be away from the 4 year olds, ready for some independence, but still very young compared to the massive Y11s/6th formers.^

That's the compulsory age - which is indeed the term after they're 5. But reception/first year infants has always been for those that turn 5 that academic year.

Primary schools tend to have 1 class teacher for all subjects.
Secondary schools have specialist teachers.

Middle schools I don't know about. If they don't have specialists then the years 7&8 are disadvantaged compared with secondary school. If they do have specialists even if just for core subjects that could make them more expensive to run?

8 year olds know it is wrong to punch and kick. Saying 15yos wouldn't know is ridiculous.

Joining a school in y9 means you are still just settling in when you have to pick GCSE options (or even you would be jumping straight into some GCSE subjects). I don't think that would be conducive to good learning myself.

(State schools are the free ones. Public school are a subset of independent, fee paying schools.)

1983 baby and it was

First school -Year R to year 3
Middle school - year 4 to year 6
Senior school year 7 to year 11
Then college

Year 7 used to be in middle school but the year I went into year 7 it was changed so 2 year groups went at once.

I started primary school in 1978, when I was 4.

Was at primary age 4-11, then secondary (including sixth form) age 11-18

I have heard of "middle school" in some areas but never actually known anyone who's been to one!

I’m my school the sixth formers and year elevens took an active role in assisting and looking out for the year 7s.
it was year 9s ( aged 14) that were the bullies and pranksters but the older years had matured above it .
its not like the old days , schools have a zero tolerance to bullying and have strict guidelines for student welfare and cameras all over the place so your nephew should simply alert someone if he’s having a hard time and it’ll get sorted out .

Same here, and my kids school years are exactly the same 30 years on.

Also, a lot of secondary schools have separate areas and canteens for each year group for break and lunch, so year 7s won't necessary come into much contact with year 11s.

But not necessarily in September- not in Berkshire in the 1990s. Neither of my DC could start until the term after they were 5. DS turned 5 at the end of December, so he started in the Spring term a week later. But DD was born in February and couldn't start until after Easter, which was quite late that year, so she didn't start until the middle of April. So DS only had two terms in Reception and DD only had one.

I’m older than you, OP, and I started school at 4.

Primary school was age 4 - 11, secondary school age 11 - 16, then a separate sixth form college for A-levels.
No middle school system in the area I lived in. I didn’t realise that was a thing anywhere in the U.K. at all until about 5 years ago.

The secondary school I went to had separate playgrounds and canteens for Years 7-8 and Years 9-11, so the youngest kids weren’t really mixing with the oldest ones.

My DC1 (11) has recent started secondary school, the pupils are age 11-16 (like the school I went to and all the other local schools), and they’ve got different break and lunch times for the different year groups. So DC1 doesn’t have much contact with the older kids.

It's not a recent cost cutting exercise OP - most areas never had middle schools.

I’m a year younger than you and I’ve only come across 13+ senior schools in context of traditional boys public schools, or ex boys schools that are now co ed. I’ve only heard of one school that starts secondary at 10 and that’s Emanuel (v old private in SW London).

The standard would be 4-11 (sometimes split at Y3) and 11-16, 16-18 wouldn’t it?