He goes to a state school, as in funded by the state or what you guys confusingly call a public school More particularly it’s a comprehensive, as in there is no selection for ability and neither a faith school (self explanatory I hope) or a school for special educational needs. The majority of kids in the UK go to that kind of school.
The age grading in British schools was traditionally split between primary school ages 5 to 11 and secondary school ages 11 to 18. We said form rather than grade and the count began again when kids entered secondary school. (There was a short phase of having middle schools which I never got). So primary school had forms first through fifth and secondary first through sixth. But wait! That only adds up to eleven. That’s because sixth form is divided into lower and upper sixth, there is no seventh. Oh and some schools only go up to fifth form and then the kids have the option of college (which is not the same thing as your college). And after all that I have to tell you that kids today tend to say they are in Years One to Twelve.
Exams: O levels are mostly taken in fifth form (Year 10) they are subject specific (French, Biology, English Literature etc). In my day kids were put in for between eight and eleven of these. Brighter kids might take two or three a year early. The grading system has been rejigged quite a bit over the years and I’m not au fait with recent developments but essentially there are passes and fails. Job specifications may include requirements for a certain number of O levels or certain subjects ie Maths and English.
A levels are, among other things, the entry requirement for university courses as well as somewhat better jobs. The courses are typically two years and the work more intensive. Sixth formers or college pupils might be put in for one to four with perhaps an extra O level or two thrown in so there’s quite a narrowing of subject range. Grading is similar to O levels.
Oh and “a ton” in speed terms always meant 100 mph in my southern neck of the woods, usaully heard as “doing a ton”.
O Levels? I can’t imagine they mentioned them in The Inbetweeners; I certainly don’t remember any reference to them. It’s not set in the 1970s. You must’ve heard that from somewhere else.
Anyway, they’re not grades. I’m not sure why your’e comparing UK examinations to US years; no wonder your’e having trouble comparing them. They’re like your SATS (I never knew what they were - not a request for elucidation, BTW!). If you’re thinking they’re year grades, I can’t say I’m suprised as to your confusion.
Our year grades are much more complicated than the US. Rather than K-12, we go 1-11. 1 being the first year at school. 11 being the last year at school. With a 1-grade-1-year ratio. Scary complicated! I can see why it’s difficult!
And most schools here have uniforms. Nothing to do with being private or not.
Oh, and a “ton” means £100 or 100mph. It’s not desperately uncommon, but may vary in usage across the UK. The common factor is the “100” bit.
“Clunge” I’ve never heard. Maybe the kids use it these days. I’m 35.
“Grass” is an informer; Americans would use “you dirty rat!”
“Bent” is both gay and corrupt, depending on context. A ent copper is a corrupt policeman. A bent teacher is a gay teacher (although probably not gay - it’s used as an insult).
I think the matter of “O-levels” needs some clarification: they are an old form of educational qualification for students of school-leaving age, replaced some years ago by GCSE. You get a separate grade for each subject that you study, with some subjects being compulsory. It used to be that there were two tiers of qualifications-- General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level (GCE O-level), graded A to E, and Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE), which was aimed at less able students (I think graded numerically, but I never took a CSE). As a rule of thumb, a C-grade O-level was considered roughly equivalent to a top grade CSE.
That system was combined some years ago into GCSE. After GCSE, students may choose to do “A-levels” (A for Advanced), which are structured in much the same way that they always have been except they’re much easier these days, mutter, grumble. To get into a university you typically need three or four good A-levels in relevant subjects.
Not sure if that’s a whoosh, but I believe that Hail Ants was quoting The Simpsons.
One note about this very good explanation. I believe that this sort of college (to replace sixth form, or for 16-18 year old kids) is the sort of school that the characters in Skins were attending.
I’m fairly sure that “bampot” is a mostly Scottish description. Think Begbie in Trainspotting - he was a bampot. There’s definitely an element of unfocussed violence in the term.
My dad smoked woodbines in transport caffs in the late fifties (still does in fact). He always used ‘a ton’ to mean 100 of anything but especially money, darts and motorway speeds.
Quite a few numbers - usually for money - had special words for every day use (jacks, dollar, pony, score, ton, gross).
The old man’s preferred word for lady parts was minge; mine is clunge.
I first heard the word ‘clunge’ from a comedian on telly (this was about 1992) who was seeing if he could make up words that sounded dirty without actually meaning anything. He ran around the stage saying "up your clunge! up your clunge!’. It was very shocking!
I believe that Jon Stewart’s “rusty trombone” and “dirty sanchez” have similar etymology.
I had thought that the 60s association was from the time when “doing the ton” was actually legal, the 70 mph speed limit on the UK’s motorways being introduced in the late 60s IIRC.
And of course, doing the ton was something special back then, not something that everyone could squeeze out of their Japanese hatchback on a slight downward slope.
O-levels were originally graded 1 - 6 pass and 7-9 fail. Quite why they needed three failing grades is beyond me. I took all my O-levels but one in 1973 & 1974 and they were graded on the 1-9 scale. In 1975 they changed the grading to A-E as pass and U as a fail. A - C corresponded to the original 1 - 6. D and E became passes but most people regarded them as failing grades at the time - that may have changed since.
I took one O level in 1974 and got a C grade (passes were A to E) I think it must have varied by examination board (for those outside of the UK these are sort of regional). I was pissed off when they reclassified the grades as it made my C grades look crap and my E look like a fail .
More particularly it’s a comprehensive, as in there is no selection for ability and neither a faith school (self explanatory I hope) or a school for special educational needs. The majority of kids in the UK go to that kind of school.