The state-funded education system is divided into stages based upon age:[10] Early Years Foundation Stage (ages 3–5); primary education (ages 5 to 11), subdivided into Key Stage 1 (KS1) Infants (ages 5 to 7) and Key Stage 2 (KS2) Juniors (ages 7 to 11); secondary education (ages 11 to 16), subdivided into Key Stage 3 (KS3; ages 11 to 14) and Key Stage 4 (KS4; ages 14 to 16); Key Stage 5 is post-16 education (ages 16 to 18); and tertiary education (for ages 18+).[11]
At age 16 the students typically take exams for the General Certificate of Secondary Education or other Level 1/2 qualifications. While education is compulsory until 18, schooling is only compulsory to 16, thus post-16 education can take a number of forms, and may be academic or vocational. This can involve continued schooling, known as "sixth form" or "college", leading (typically after two years of further study) to A-level qualifications (similar to a high school diploma in some other countries), or a number of alternative Level 3qualifications such as BTEC, the International Baccalaureate or the Cambridge Pre-U. It can also include work-based apprenticeshipsor traineeships, or volunteering.
Higher education often begins with a three-year bachelor's degree. Postgraduate degrees include master's degrees, either taught or by research, and doctoral level research degrees that usually take at least three years. Tuition fees for first degrees are up to £9,000 per academic year for English, Welsh and European Union students, although these are set to rise to £9,250 for students starting from 2017.
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