Senior High School in Japan

[???????]

What is the level of studies in Senior High School in Japan? Is it closer to O-levels or A-levels?

[KatayokuのTenshi]

Given that High school goes up to 18 (right?) and that Schools in Japan are traditionaly considered especialy hard I'd say A-level, although I came along a bit late for O-level, but if it was GCSE of A level I'd say A level, without a doubt.

[Pariah]

If anyone has any details about how the Japanese system compares to the British one I'd be most interested.

I've heard things about all this exam prep. they have to go through to get into Universtiy and that its just a 'study, study, study' atmosphere. Which is wholy different to my educational experience.

[eXdriver]

Can someone fill me in on what A-level and O-level mean and how that is determined?

[Ariel Tsuki]

Originally Posted by Pariah

If anyone has any details about how the Japanese system compares to the British one I'd be most interested.

I've heard things about all this exam prep. they have to go through to get into Universtiy and that its just a 'study, study, study' atmosphere. Which is wholy different to my educational experience.

Yeah, studying for college exam (and as well as high school too) in Japan is pretty brutual. Some student goes to cram school or an course to study for them like the Kaplan for the SAT in America. Some start before the summer vacation or even earlier to focus solely on the exams. Getting into a good college means you're kinda set for life. Ironically though, college in Japan are often seen as a 4 year vacation between high school and the real world. The workload is much less than it was in high school.

[KatayokuのTenshi]

Originally Posted by eXdriver

Can someone fill me in on what A-level and O-level mean and how that is determined?

O-level (ordinary-level) was the standard examination taken by people in Britain at the age of sixteen until 1986 when they were replaced by the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education*). They are taken at the end of 'year 11' and mark the end of compulsorily education. In the past anyone deemed incapable of passing their O Level exams took the CSE exams instead. Any lettered grad other than a ‘u’ (upgraded) counts as a pass, 11 Fs = 11 GCSEs but you’d have a hard time getting by with less than C grade results.

The A or Advanced level is the next stage and the beginning of 'further' education (It's comprised of the Advanced and Advanced Subsidiary or AS level). AS-level exams are taken after the first year, usually at the age of 17 and A-level at the end of the second year. University applications are usually judged mostly on the strength of the A-level results. The most stringent universities Oxbridge (Oxford and Cambridge) the various London universities, Edinburgh and Glasgow and increasingly Exeter and Bristol require a very high standard of result, A,A,B or A,B,B usually. There are no 'A+' grades.

________________________
*Secondary = age 11-16

[sailornyanko]

We never had to do those sorts of cram exams to get into universities. Private universities are relatively easy to enter (the only math I needed to know was the theorm of Pithagoras), the intuition alone turns off most possible applicants so only in some careers you see a lot of people fighting to get in. I had a classmate who easily entered Medicine in my university with just a 7.5 HS average.
Public universities are very hard to get in. Knowing basic integrals just isn't enough, you need to know pretty hard ones just for the exam. Medicine requires about a 75% score just to pass the entry exam in the CU campus of the UNAM. Quite ferocious. Add the fact taht the UNAm only charges 1 penny a year and you get the idea.

But high schools don't do cram courses to prepare sudents to enter the UNAM, you're on your own.