1-Hello my name is Kaan Kargın.

I am 15 years old and I have been living England for the last 5 years
after my family migrated to the U.K. I am currently in year 10 in my secondary school.

First let me explain you a bit the educational system and curriculum here in the U.K that you can
compare it with Turkey.

The National Curriculum is constructed in five Key Stages:

Key Stage 1 - Foundation year and Years 1 to 2 - for pupils aged between 5 and 7 years old

Key Stage 2 - Years 3 to 6 - for pupils aged between 8 and 11 years old

Key Stage 3 - Years 7 to 9 - for pupils aged between 12 and 14 years old,

Key Stage 4 - Years 10 to 11 - for pupils aged between 15 and 16 years old, and

Key Stage 5 - Years 12 to 13 - for pupils aged between 17 and 18 years old.

Primary education starts in Year 1. Most pupils begin their secondary education at the age of 11
(Year 7). At the age of 16 (the end of Key stage 4 and Year 11), all pupils take a series of exams called
the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), usually in about eight to ten subjects, which
must include English and Mathematics. Key Stage 5 is for pupils aged 16-18 (sometimes 19) and
most schools take Advanced Level exams after a two-year course.

To be accepted by a university you need to have good GCSE results.

Students who are between 12 and 16 years old are legally required to attend a secondary school in
the UK. They call this stage of compulsory education “lower secondary”.

Subjects

Key stage 3: English, maths, science, history, geography, modern foreign languages, design and art
and design, music, physical education, citizenship, computing and technology.

Schools must provide religious education (RE) and sex education from key stage 3 but parents can
ask for their children to be taken out of the whole lesson or part of it.

Key stage 4: Core (compulsory national curriculum subject) subjects; English, maths, science.
Foundation subjects; computing physical citizenship

Schools must also offer at least one subject from each arts, design and technology, humanities and
modern foreign languages.

Religious education (RE) and sex education at key stage 4 must also be provided by both private and
state schools.

During key stage 4 most students work towards national qualifications - usually GCSEs.

I have not much knowledge about key stage 5 but it is also called sixth forum or college which is not
mandatory education.

2-My school is called The Beacon School (www.thebeaconschool.co.uk). It is an average state-owned

secondary school. students from ages of 12 to 16 study there. It has football fields and a cafeteria.
The school is mostly free except the cafeteria food and some optional revision guides. Sometimes
the school organises trips to places and that might require money for the student’s participation.
Here in the U.K are also private schools which you can imagine are not free of charge like state
schools.

3-My school itself is mixed so both boys and girls can go there. Our uniforms are fairly similar. Boys
wear a white shirt, the schools special tie, black trousers, and a special jumper. These are not
provided by the school and must be bought by the students.

3-After school enrichments are mandatory for years 7 and 8 however after that you do not need to
attend. These range from football clubs to debating clubs. they take an hour after school on
Tuesdays or Thursdays. Some are Sports Cricket Squad, Sports Athletics Squad, Board Games, Book
Club, Film making, History Club, Laser Art, Microbiology Club etc.

4-The lessons take an hour and they are block lessons so there is no break in between every lesson.
the first break last for 25 minutes and the lunch break is 35 minutes long. the education is very good,
and I have not had any trouble getting adjusted. Topics are taught slowly so the student really
understands them. The two available languages are mostly Spanish and French.

5-The school provides good enough education for exams however to succeed you must put in the
effort.