Educational Systems of Selected CountriesENRICO R. MORAJONATHAN IAN CATALAN

Educational system of Australia Basic Education: (Primary/Secondary Education)

Primary school - Runs for seven or eight years, starting at Kindergarten/Preparatory through to Year 6 or 7.

Junior Secondary school - Runs for three or four years, from Years 7 to 10 or 8 to 10.

Senior secondary school - Runs for two years, Years 11 and 12.

Higher Education: Tertiary education includes both higher education (including

universities) and vocational education and training (VET). English is the official language of Australia and the main language of instruction in the education system. Many schools offer bilingual programs or programs in other languages.

Post Graduate: Masters and Doctorate Degrees

Educational system of China Basic Education:

Pre-school/Primary Education: 9 years Secondary School

Junior middle school: 3 years Senior middle school: 3 years Varieties of Technical and Vocational School

Higher Education: Higher education is further divided into two categories: 1)

universities that offer four-year or five-year undergraduate degrees to award academic degree qualifications; and 2) colleges that offer three-year diploma or certificate courses on both academic and vocational subjects.  

Postgraduate and doctoral programs are only offered at universities. 

Educational system ofJapan Basic Education (Primary education) – 6years Secondary Education

Junior education – 3 years (7-10 yrs. old) Senior education – 3 years (11-15 yrs. old)

Tertiary Education – 4 years 60% of the university have graduate schools, but only 7% of

university graduate gets Master’s degree. At the doctorate level, students enrol in medical programs and humanities.

Japanese Education relies heavily upon examinations to determine which schools the student will go to next.

Educational system of South Africa Basic Education

Primary Education: Junior Primary – Grades I-III Senior Primary – Grades IV-VI

Secondary Education Compulsory Education (the last stage) – Grades VII-IX Further Education and Training (FET) or Senior Secondary Education (non-compulsory) – Grades X-

XII Tertiary and Higher Education – 4 years

Provided through large number of private and state-managed institutions under the overall control of the ministry of higher education and training.

Educational system ofUnited Kingdom Basic Education Key Levels

Foundation Stage – children aged 3-5 years old. Key Stage One – children aged 5-7 years and year groups

grades 1-2. Key Stage Two – children aged 7-11 years and year groups 3-

6. Key Stage 3 – children aged 11-14 years and year groups 7-9. Key Stage Four – children aged 14-16 years and year groups

10-11. Post 16 Education (non-mandatory in England) – ages 11-16

or 11-18. Higher Education – 3 years

Higher education system in the UK needs to include reference to the Open University as a major provider of the undergraduate and postgraduate degrees for adults.

Educational system ofUnited States of America

Basic Education – 3-7 years Pre-Primary Education –children ages 4-6 years old (2 years) Primary Education – varied levels of schooling (Grades 1-7, ages 6-14)

Middle School Education – duration varies from state to state Grades 4-6, 5-7, or 6-8 – ages level is from 10-14 (3 years)

Secondary Education-High School – 6 years Grades 7-12 or 8-12 – ages 12-18 years old.

Vocational (varies) and Higher Education (4 years) Vocational education varies between state too, although the majority

of post-secondary vocational and technical training takes place in private career schools.

The average American takes over 6 years to finish a four-year degree, due to more than 50% of college freshmen don’t know what major specialization they wish to study.