Inthevastmajorityofcases,pupilsprogressfromprimarytosecondarylevelsatage11;insomeareaseitherorbothoftheprimaryandsecondarylevelsarefurthersubdivided.Afewareashavethree-tiereducationsystemswithanintermediatemiddlelevelfromage9to13.

　　State-fundednurseryeducationisavailablefromtheageof3,andmaybefull-timeorpart-time.Ifregisteredwithastateschoolattendanceiscompulsorybeginningwiththetermfollowingthechild'sfifthbirthday.ChildrencanbeenrolledinthereceptionyearinSeptemberofthatschoolyearthusbeginningschoolatage4or4.5.UnlessthestudentchoosestostaywithintheeducationsystemschoolattendanceendsonthelastFridayinJuneduringtheacademicyearinwhichastudentattainstheageof16.[9]

　　UndertheNationalCurriculumsystem,allpupilsundergoStandardAssessmentTests(SATs)towardstheendsofKeyStage2incoresubjects,butnotfoundationsubjects,whereteacherassessmentisused.TheynormallytakeGCSEexamsinthelasttwoyearsofKeyStage4,butmaytakeotherLevel2qualifications,suchasGNVQ.FormertestsattheendofKeyStage3wereabandonedafterthe2008tests,whensevereproblemsemergedconcerningthemarkingprocedures.NowatKeyStages1and3,assessmentisbyteacherassessmentagainsttheNationalCurriculumAttainmentTargetsforallsubjects.Testsresultsforschoolsarepublished,andareanimportantmeasureoftheirperformance.[10][11]

　　ShrewsburySixthFormCollegeinShropshire.Historically,years7to12/13usedtobeknownas'firstform'to'lower/uppersixthform'.Therenowexistsacommonparallelterminologyforsixthformonly:'year12/lower6th'and'year13/upper6th'.Theuseoftheterm'sixthform'reflectsitsdistinct,voluntarynatureandsituationastheA-levelyears.Evenmorehistorically,thisarosefromthesysteminpublicschools,whereallformsweredividedintoLower,Upper,andsometimesMiddlesections.Year7isequivalentto'UpperThirdForm',Year8wouldhavebeenknownas'LowerFourth',andsoon.InsomeprivateschoolssuchasWithingtonGirls'School,thiswayofcountingtheyears(Lowerfourth,Upperfourth,LowerFifthetc)isstillused