- This article is about educational institutions. For other uses of the term school, see School (disambiguation).
A school is any place designated for learning. The range of institutions covered by the term varies from country to country.
In the United Kingdom, the term school refers primarily to
pre-university institutions, and these can for the most part be divided into
primary schools (sometimes further divided into infant school and junior
school) and secondary schools. School performance is monitored
by Her Majesty's
Inspectorate of Education.
In North America, the term school refers to any institute of
education, at any level, and covers all of the following: preschool (for toddlers), kindergarten, elementary
school, middle school (also called intermediate school or junior high school, depending on specific age groups and geographic
region), high school, college,
university, and graduate school. In the US, school performance
through high school is monitored by each state's Department of Education.
The King's School, in Canterbury in the south east of England, may be the
oldest surviving school in the world. It was founded in 597 AD.
In parts of Europe, a Gymnasium is a school of secondary education. In Germany, after thirteen (in some states twelve) grades, the Gymnasium finishes with the Abitur
(Matura in Austria and Switzerland).
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