Key Stage 2Key Stage 2 is the legal term for the four years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6, when the pupils are aged between 7 and 11 years. The term is defined in the Education Act 2002 as the period beginning at the same time as the school year in which the majority of pupils in a class attain the age of eight and ending at the same time as the school year in which the majority of pupils in a class attain the age of eleven.
Key Stage 1Key Stage 1 is the legal term for the two years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 1 and Year 2, when pupils are aged between 5 and 7. This Key Stage normally covers pupils during infant school, although in some cases this might form part of a first or primary school. It is also the label used for the third and fourth years of primary education in Northern Ireland. In Hong Kong, it is used to describe Primary One to Primary Three.
Key Stage 3Key Stage 3 (commonly abbreviated as KS3) is the legal term for the three years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9, when pupils are aged between 11 and 14. In Northern Ireland the term also refers to the first three years of secondary education. The term is defined in the Education Act 2002 as "the period beginning at the same time as the school year in which the majority of pupils in his class attain the age of twelve and ending at the same time as the school year in which the majority of pupils in his class attain the age of fourteen" (i.
Key Stage 4Key Stage 4 (KS4) is the legal term for the two years of school education which incorporate GCSEs, and other examinations, in maintained schools in England normally known as Year 10 and Year 11, when pupils are aged between 14 and 16 by August 31. (In some schools, KS4 work is started in Year 9.) The term is defined in the Education Act 2002 as "the period beginning at the same time as the school year in which the majority of pupils in his class attain the age of fifteen and ending at the same time as the school year in which the majority of pupils in his class cease to be of compulsory school age".
Education in EnglandEducation in England is overseen by the United Kingdom's Department for Education. Local government authorities are responsible for implementing policy for public education and state-funded schools at a local level. England also has a tradition of private schools (some of which call themselves public schools) and home education: legally, parents may choose to educate their children by any permitted means. State-funded schools may be selective grammar schools or non-selective comprehensive schools (non-selective schools in counties that have grammar schools may be called by other names, such as high schools).
Comprehensive schoolA comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis of selection criteria, usually academic performance. The term is commonly used in relation to England and Wales, where comprehensive schools were introduced as state schools on an experimental basis in the 1940s and became more widespread from 1965.
State schoolA state school or public school is a primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. Such schools are funded in whole or in part by taxation. State-funded schools exist in virtually every country of the world, though there are significant variations in their structure and educational programmes. Government funded education generally encompasses primary and secondary education (4 years old to 18 years old).
