Upper Schools tend to be schools within
secondary educationSecondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
. Outside England, the term normally refers to a section of a larger school. There is some variation in the use of the term in England.
State Maintained Schools
Upper Schools are a type of
secondary schoolSecondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
found in a minority of English local education authorities. Whilst most areas in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
use a two-tier educational system - Primary (ages 5–11) and
SecondarySecondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
(ages 11–16 or -18 if they operate a sixth form) - counties such as
SuffolkSuffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
,
BedfordshireBedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
and
NorthumberlandNorthumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
use a
three-tierThree-tier education refers to those structures of schooling, which exist in some parts of England, where pupils are taught in three distinct school types. A similar experiment was also trialled in Scotland....
system of Lower (ages 5–9),
MiddleMiddle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
(ages 9–13), and Upper Schools (ages 13–16 or 18 if there is a sixth form).
The introduction of such systems began in
West YorkshireWest Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
in the 1963, but has gradually been withdrawn in most areas since the introduction of the National Curriculum. This is because of the nature of the curriculum which is divided into
Key StageA Key Stage is a stage of the state education system in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the British Territory of Gibraltar setting the educational knowledge expected of students at various ages...
s which do not fully align with the three-tier system. In some areas where this type of school is in use, they are known as
High schoolHigh school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
s.
In
BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, which retains the
eleven plusIn the United Kingdom, the 11-plus or Eleven plus is an examination administered to some students in their last year of primary education, governing admission to various types of secondary school. The name derives from the age group for secondary entry: 11–12 years...
, the term is used for secondary schools which admit applicants without reference to the test (elsewhere called secondary modern schools).
Independent Schools
Some independent schools use the term
Upper School to describe departments of a larger school, which may also include
preparatoryIn English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...
or junior departments. It is not particularly widely used, and there is little consistency in the way in which the term is applied to refer to year groups.
United States
Many independent and even some parochial schools in the United States also tend to favor the term "
Upper SchoolUpper Schools tend to be schools within secondary education. Outside England, the term normally refers to a section of a larger school. There is some variation in the use of the term in England.-State Maintained Schools:...
" to designate grades 9-12. Schools favoring this terminology may use "
Middle SchoolMiddle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
" for grades 6/7-8/9, "Lower School" for grades 1-5, and "
Early ChildhoodEarly childhood education is the formal teaching and care of young children by people other than their family or in settings outside of the home. 'Early childhood' is usually defined as before the age of normal schooling - five years in most nations, though the U.S...
"(education) for pre-K through Kindergarten.