Any chance you could dig up a cite for us? I’m doubtful this occurred–perhaps she was admitted to York U, with the intent of heading to Osgoode (for those not in the know, “Osgoode” is the name of the law school hosted by York University) once academically qualified, but I don’t think that Osgoode, of all places, would admit someone who wasn’t even close to qualifying at all.
While true, I’m not sure this information really clarifies the point that was being addressed.
Never mind; I found a few things. According to the Toronto Star, the person in question may have dropped out of high school, but later attended George Brown College, where she apparently earned a “sterling academic average.” (Cite.) So, it’s not like she was coming to law school with zero academic credentials at all. George Brown may be a community college, but as I recall, it does teach some courses whose credits can transfer to a university.
And according to York University itself, the person was admitted under “special circumstances.” From this link:
So, this situation and resulting admission was somewhat unusual, and definitely not the norm. But it happened.
Learn something every day, eh? 
Most Quebec universities accept law and medicine students straight out of high school (or rather straight out of cégep, which would give them the equivalent of one year of university in the rest of Canada or in the US). And I believe the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of law (and I suppose the Faculty of medicine as well) accepts students who’ve completed two years of undergraduate study. They do however mention that having a bachelor’s degree would be an asset.
Thanks for looking up & posting some relevant cites, Spoons. I should have tried to dig some up myself before posting something that wacky, but I’ve got a nasty flu and not thinking all that clearly today as a result. Apologies.
Do the Quebec universities who accept students from CEGEP teach civil law or common law? I wonder if the differences in the legal systems would make a difference in the admissions requirements (though, honestly, I have no idea if they would or not).
Many common law Canadian schools–and certainly the common law section of the U of Ottawa–have the “two year rule” you’ve mentioned above. However, it should be noted that two years of undergraduate study is required before an applicant can apply–but being allowed to apply does not necessarily mean that the applicant will be accepted.
A couple of examples from my experience. In my first-year law school class of 180 students, we had just two classmates who had not completed a bachelor’s degree. One had the undergrad grades and LSAT scores that would get him into law, but was one undergrad course shy of receiving his bachelor’s; he completed that during our first year of law school. The other was a true “two years of undergrad” student, but exceptionally well-qualified: she carried a 4.0 GPA in every undergrad course, and she had one of the highest LSAT scores in our law class. Good call on the admissions people’s part, as she lived up to expectations at law school also, making the Dean’s List every semester and graduating with high distinction.
I’d suggest that my classmates are the sorts of students who would be seriously considered for admission without completing a bachelor’s. The person who has just completed two (or three) years of undergrad study, with a middling GPA and a mediocre LSAT, can still apply, but definitely won’t be accepted.
Not disagreeing with you, HJ; just fleshing out some details. 
It’s likely to be civil law, but I wouldn’t be surprised if students were allowed or even obliged to take common law classes as well. Quebec’s law system is mixed, with elements from both civil law and common law, and some universities offer dual programs that allow graduates to practice law in the other provinces.
I’d have to ask my friend, who’s finished her LL.B. earlier this year here in Sherbrooke. I believe she took a few common law classes, but I don’t know if it was actually part of her bachelor’s program or of a post-graduate microprogram. She’s now doing her master’s degree, which will include an internship in France, and if I remember right, when she’s done she’ll be qualified to practice law in Quebec, in the other Canadian provinces and in France. And she was definitely accepted into the law program after completing cégep, without having taken university-level classes before.
Yes but the University of London is weird. It has a federal structure and some of the larger constituent colleges - including UCL - are regarded as universities in their own right, able to award their own degrees. :dubious:
Great; I’ll look forward to hearing more.
I do know a couple of lawyers who have both common law and civil law degrees (their civil law degrees were earned at Quebec universities), so I should ask them about their civil law studies in Quebec–admissions, experience, and so on. However, I don’t speak with them as often as I’d like (they live elsewhere), so it may be a while before I can do my own research on this.
Just to confuse everything, I am studying for my MBA at the Australian Graduate School of Management. Not connected to a uni.
Politicians keep tinkering with the English examination system, so it’s a bit complex. Back in the day there were CSEs (Certificates of Secondary Education), Ordinary Levels, and Advanced Levels and Advanced Special Levels. CSEs were for those who weren’t sufficiently clever to take an O Level. Both were taken at about 16. If you got the top grade of a CSE, you were awarded a C grade at O Level. Taking 10 or more O levels was not uncommon. Advanced Levels were taken at 18 and 3 was typical. Brainboxes took 5. The really clever people took the AS Levels. There were also AO levels which were more advanced than O levels but nowhere near as hard as A levels. O Levels, AO Levels, and CSEs were replaced by GCSEs, and A Levels have also been tweaked. There has been considerable grade inflation.
I asked my friend; it took some time for her to respond due to the holiday season.
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The common law classes she took were not part of her LL.B. program, but rather part of a short postgraduate program. She did half of it last summer and will do the rest next summer.
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After she’s done with her master’s, she’ll be qualified to practice law in Quebec, the rest of Canada, the US and France (assuming, I suppose, that she can become a member of the bar in those places).
Is it located completely apart from any other institution? Many if not most universities in the U.S. house their MBA program in something called “The _________________ School of Business and/or Management” (typically the name of some donor), which uses the facilities of the university as a whole:
UC Berkeley: “The Hass School of Business”
UCLA: “The Anderson School of Management”
NYU: “The Stern School of Business”
University of Chicago: “The Booth School of Business”
University of Toronto: “The Rotman School of Management”
etc.
Effectively these are graduate programs within the larger university.
That’s not confusing. In principle, there’s no reason why in the United States there couldn’t be a business school that grants M.B.A. degrees that is not affiliated with a larger institution. Off the top of my head, there are several unaffiliated law schools – including the New York Law School, the John Marshall Law School, and the Hastings College of Law (it’s considered a separate unit of the University of California system, but it’s not affiliated with any particular full-service university within the system).
It seem to me that the main difference between the North American system and the U.K.-style system is the idea of who grants degrees, diplomas, certifications, etc.
In North America, it is generally the institution that admits you, that you attend, and that instructs you that grants your qualifications. For example, if you attend South Springfield Senior High, it is the faculty of South Springfield Senior High that instructs you, tests you, and grants you a high school diploma upon your completion of the requirements (all subject to the standards and requirements set by the state). If you attend Oberlin College, it is Oberlin College that admits you, instructs you, tests you, and grants you a bachelor’s degree upon your completion of the requirements.
In the U.K. (and other countries that follow its system), you are admitted and instructed by one institution (a “college” or its equivalent), but you are tested and granted qualifications by a separate institution (a “university” or its equivalent). Colleges are usually affiliated with a particular university, but it is possible for a college to switch affiliations, and sometimes become unaffiliated altogether (in which case I don’t know who does the qualification granting).
They are still called sixth-form colleges. This is a bit weird since kids go from year 11 into sixth form, which lasts two years. Three schools in my borough recently joined together to create a new sixth-form college with that in the name.
You missed out the ‘R’ year. Primary school starts with reception, which is R, the only year without a number (like K for kindergarten in the US). We don’t start with year 1.
The law says that a child has to be in school (or their parents have to prove they’re getting an equivalent education outside school) after the term in which they turn 5. In practice, the vast majority of kids start school at the age of 4.
Some schools start reception year only in the term before the child’s going to turn 5 - they call the kids ‘rising 5s.’ Other schools just admit everybody at once in September (and a few have starts in September, January and April). My summer-born daughter was 4 years and one month old when she started school because he school did an all-inclusive September intake, which is more and more common.
For all the other years you mention, like year 7 being from age 12, that’s the year in which you become 12 - you’re not 12 before the start of the year.
Linky - it’s a school’s own website, but it’s one of the best simple websites I’ve ever seen. It’s ridiculous how many questions you can have answered by going on to this one small primary school’s websites.
It’s exactly like the US except that the numbered grades and the legal mandatory school admission age start a year earlier. Going to turn 6 that school year = year 1, etc.
Though I’m slightly confused - someone earlier said that for the US you subtract five from the age to get the grade they’re in. I thought it was 6? I thought that, if you’re going to turn 10 this school year, then you’ll be in 4th grade? This has to be true, otherwise quiz shows have lied to me! :mad:
You can’t really just pick a number to subtract from the age to get the grade- it all depends on when the cut off is. For example, in some places a child must be five by the first day of school to start kindergarten- kindergarten students there will be five when they start kindergarten and may turn six during the school year. Where I live a child must be five by December 31 to start kindergarten, so some children start kindergarten at four and turn five in the first few months of the school year, while others start at five and turn six after Jan 1.
Is this why being a “university student” (particularly in 19th novels) in England* seems like such a haphazard thing to me? You read of a character who is defined in the narrative as a student, but that avocation consists of mostly just dropping in on lectures every once in a while, which are more like public events, rather than a class, and reading whatever he feels like reading. At some point the character either does or does not decide to go before some professors for orals, and that’s it. (He doesn’t seem to be working closely with anyone in a formal way, like a US-style thesis committee chair, etc.) No regular term papers or final written exams to work on all night, either. It’s like the perfect literary pretext for a young (always male) character to never have to be anywhere at any particular time (e.g., in class), or have homework to turn in the next day–and to be able to make social calls upon some young lady in the middle of any given day, or engage in debates on current events in cafes simply to define his character (not as part of a school assignment)–and yet still not be considered an “idle” person or a loafer, either. He has a job, so to speak, but not really anything urgent to do at any time.
ETA: Maybe French novels too.
I can attest to this. My sister and one of my friends were both accepted into the Faculty of Medicine at Ottawa U after completing 2 years of their undergraduate degrees.
In Scotland, the system is a little different from England and Wales.
From ages 4/5 to 11/12, we go to primary school.
From ages 11/12 onwards, we attend high school. In high school, you must complete four years (get standard grades). After this, you may leave if you wish. In 5th year, you sit Higher exams (equivalent of A-levels). In 6th year, you can sit more highers, repeat highers, or study Sixth Year Studies (inbetween a Higher qualification and 1st year of university).
After school, you can either go to college or university. For us, colleges cannot offer a bachelor’s degree. You can either do highers again here, an HNC (1-2 year course) or an HND (2-3 years).
A university can offer a bachelor’s degree, an honours degree, or a postgraduate certificate/degree.