Americans React to British vs American Education Systems

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In this video we react to the American vs British education systems. From uniforms to terminology the British education system is vastly different than what we experienced in school. Public school is considered private? High school is college? What are some of the other unique aspects about education in the UK?

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Hello everybody hope you’re having an amazing day today my name is Steve this is my wife Lindsay and we are going to be reacting to eight ways British and American Education systems are very different this is a topic that Lindsay’s been wanting to explore for quite some

Time now and we’re trying to figure out what video to go with and we decided to go with this video because when we looked in the description it says that he is actually I already knew that he was schooled in England but it turns out he married an American teacher so I

Think probably knows quite a bit about the American school system at this point and obviously because he went in with the British school system growing up I’m guessing that he knows quite a bit about the similarities and the differences about the British and- American Education systems yeah it should be a

Well-rounded perspective and he’s a little older so I feel like a lot of the videos are from younger people which is good it’s a different good but and we want to do some of those too yeah but I think it’s good to get different sides yeah me too it’s been forever since I’ve

Been in the American school system uh you know I mean you know not compared to say my mom or something but like you know it’s been a very long time so like schools today are different than they were when I was going you know like when

I was going to school you know like we didn’t have laptops and tablets and all this now everybody’s got their own tablet and stuff like that that makes me wonder because here it has changed drastically from even the time I was in school to now so I’m wondering if it’s

That dramatic in the UK because I feel like maybe it’s a more American thing that’s changed so much but maybe not I don’t know I don’t know with technology maybe it’s everywhere all I know is they don’t even generally carry books anymore yeah at least here yeah here it’s like

They just have their their laptops and it’s just crazy and you know I guess it makes sense it’s where technology is gone it’s not going backwards so it makes sense but it’s just kind of it’s so different you know I mean when I was in school we didn’t nobody even had cell

Phones well I I had a flip phone well and a beeper I had a beeper yeah I had a beeper at one point but uh you know so but uh yeah guys so I think this is going to be very interesting to see some of the differences between the American

And British school system so far I think I literally only done one video and it was about some general just stuff about the British school system it was a very short video learned a few basic things um but even that video was maybe a year

Ago or so so um but uh so I don’t know a lot and Lizzie don’t know anything about the British school system no not about the British it’s interesting though because not to ramble like you do but I when I first started school I went to

Like a public school up until I was in I think my S junior year of high school and then I went to I thought it was sophomore it was my Junior and senior years of high school I went to a boarding school on a college campus and then after after that I went

To college for a little bit and then I went to a community college so I have like kind of a mixed experience as far as the education system in the US so I think it’ll be interesting to see how it can pair yeah that’s interesting but yeah enough rambling from us guys let’s

Go ahead and dive in here and check out the eight ways British and American Education systems are very different before we get underway some disclaimers Britain is made up of three countries England Scotland and Wales while the UK also includes Northern Ireland because each country has a separate education

System operating under a different government comparing British and American approaches could take as long as a doctoral program interes therefore when it comes to Britain I’m going to focus on the country of my own schooling England for more details on the other countries see my links in the description furthermore some of the

Finer details of us education can vary by State School district and school that is true so it’s not just when you when you compare like British schools to American schools and how he’s talking about in Scotland and Wales and obviously Northern Ireland would be different as well that’s technically UK

Not Britain but um they would have different school system but it’s also the same in the US every single state has a different school system so I’m hoping what I get from this video or what we get from this video is British school systems talking about kind of I

Hope most of this is is similar in all the different countries within the UK I was just going to say even in even if it’s in the same state there’s like bigger cities in the state who are like the schools are totally different like they have metal detectors and stuff and

And smaller smaller communities have different have that so it’s yeah totally different depending on where you very different okay so for some things in today’s video there will be exceptions that prove the rule basically there’s going to be a part two ahead of his election victory in 1997 former British Prime Minister Tony

Blair summed up his political priorities with three words education education education the problem was he didn’t specify in what order schools in England date back to about the year 598 they were introduced by Augustine of Canterbury who like many in the 6th Century resembled a sketch of somebody

From the 6th Century on the other hand the first public school in America was the BOS Bon Latin School it was modeled after a grammar school in Boston England and among its notable alumni was Benjamin Franklin history notes that he graduate and quit the school at the age

Of 10 and he didn’t even have a Nintendo switch fast forward to 2020 and today’s kids haven’t got a clue where the word fast forward comes from but also those kids like us before them are cogs in an educational machine that has been worked and refined for hundreds of years

Except on either side of the pond that machine is a different make and model well I don’t know how schools are in America today I well I know that it’s still similar but like when I was in school they were still it it was so outdated the way everything’s done

Because they’re they’re they’re training you to Simply go work uh a job they’re training you to go work like kind it was set up in the way it was set up for factory workers basically you know they would American schools were were originally made to basically put people through workers

Create workers instead of um you know bringing out the creativity of kids and things like that um and I I hope that’s changed some today I’m sure has a little but I think the bones are still there and I think it’s still a big part of our school system unfortunately like it’s

It’s this rigidness that that I’m not a fan of I’m not a fan of the rigidness I I don’t I like for the I like for schools to be very open and for kids to have be able to make their own choices and be independent just like I’m not a

Fan of homework I personally think do the work while you’re at school and then you’re done with school my guess is one of the biggest differences between in England school systems and American is American schools don’t really promote free thought or like encourage outside the box thinking

Like a lot of our tests and exams and stuff are based on memorizing facts regurgitating information whereas I feel like in British schools probably it’s more open-ended I’m not sure but that’s my guess in fact English and American education is very different as somebody who was schooled the English way but

Married An American teacher I’m going to take a look at those differences before we look at the education life cycle let’s talk about one of the most striking visual differences between English and American schools uniforms in the United States most schools don’t require one Brits like me know this because we’ve seen

Saved by the Bell but that doesn’t give us the only private schools American schools do enforce a dress code this varies by school but in general you might see kids wearing things like khakis and polo shirts you know basically anything worn by 55-year-old professionals called Scott there’s typically no requirement that these

Clothes have to match from student to student and while some private schools do require uniforms this is the exception that proves the rule in England everything’s flipped and I’m not just talking about the roads 90% of English schools require pupils to wear identical uniforms think Hogwarts without all the fun stuff and what’s

Fascinating is there’s no government mandate for schools to do this they just do it it really makes me wish I’d put forth a More vious protest against the autocratic infrastructure of my school when I was five but we all have regrets so my thing is so he said about

90% so the other 10% just don’t have dress Coast then yeah that’s I’m curious where those would be at they would those be more likely to be in the cities or the more rural areas um but yeah like I think that’s accurate like I don’t I

Didn’t have a dress code where like well we had dress codes well like you couldn’t like wear profanity on your shirt or like anything promoting alcohol promoting certain things scumpy clothes yeah like you you know you couldn’t wear certain like horrible things but generally speaking you could just go you

Could go wear whatever you wanted to for the most part um when you went to boarding school did you have a dress code no no not really the boarding school not even at the boarding school that’s surprising all right does that surprise you that they have they have no

Because I feel like anything I’ve ever seen in regards they all wear those like it’s yeah it’s pretty almost like suits or something pretty much a known fact yeah so that is a question I have so if they’re wearing these uniforms do they does the school provide those or do you

Have to pay for those and then I bet you probably get like like you saw the like what they showed here right like you got that jacket and the tie and the white undershirt and go to slacks they don’t pay do they oh I don’t do you pay is it

Free is it like our Public School System where it’s I’m guessing it probably is let me think about it they if they got the NHS and Healthcare is paid for so then my guess is you probably get like one or two uniforms provided and then anything beyond that you probably have

To buy you would at least need replace it you would at least need a minimum two because you’d have to wash them you couldn’t you know wear the same one throughout the one thing than any on top of that you have to purchase probably right It’s true that both countries employ a numbering system to denote a child’s educational development in England this is measured by year and in America by grade and there’s a slight difference in how this plays out England’s numbering system is always one higher than America’s so for example English kids in

Year 2 are the same age as American kids in the first grade and this is the same all the way up to year 13/1 12th grade this doesn’t mean that English schools randomly hold children back a year it just means that the English year one serves the same purpose as America’s

Kindergarten on the whole English and American kids attend school between about 5 and 18 but that’s not the entire story even before all of this there’s a 2-year warm-up session preschool between 3 and 5 when children still can’t do easy stuff like order pizza or filter spreadsheets

Parents in both countries have them sent off to something called preschool and instead of getting punished for their abject lack of ability they’re rewarded with free playtime Madness except in England we don’t normally call it preschool this period is broken up into what is known as nursery and reception

Reception confusingly reception year is technically the first year of school and year one is the second year among other things this explains why I’m so bad at maths so yeah I’m not going to remember I he said both both countries send their kids off to preschool to preschool and

Kinderen I think that’s generally speaking that’s only if the both parents are working in the in the US I mean it really just depends some families do it regardless I mean some do I’m not saying that but I’m saying it’s like he made it sound like it was something that every

Family across the board did in the US and that’s definitely not the case you know no um I would say that out the people I know I don’t think like think about my sister both my well Raven hasn’t but anyway um both my sisters us

I mean like I I think that that is a very is it tends to be a thing that happens when both parents are working um more likely yeah I went to preschool for I went to preschool often on my mom worked and then she didn’t and when she

Didn’t I was not in preschool um it just depended on like when she was working did you go to preschool I didn’t go to preschool you you just started at kindergarten yeah and I and you were like cuz your grandma and whatever was around that was same for me except I

Went for I think I actually went to I I I don’t think it was preschool I went to like daycare yeah uh like which honestly is kind of the same I think I went from like 2 to three or something like that and then from uh 3: to 6 or whatever it

Was I cuz I was almost six when I enter kindergarten cuz uh you know because my birthday was later in the year so I had to wait another year um but yeah so I I spent like a year I think in some sort of preschool daycare otherwise I was with my mom

Yeah in America the school where children advance to next is known as Elementary but to English people that’s just a word that Sherlock Holmes uses when he wants to be condescending this period of education is where children from the ages of about 6 to 11 are first

Introduced to the broad range of of knowledge they’ll need to succeed in life so handling basic arithmetic developing spelling ability and explaining grass stains in England schools handling this period of primary education are known as primary schools but in America primaries are a series of State elections for nominating a Party

Candidate which occur roughly every week forever and then there’s the average class size in the US the average class size for self-contained Elementary classes is oh I was going to try to guess 22 what is it this is the number of students average per class yeah a

Primary school I think is what you’re talking about he about 22 just saying that out loud I can already hear the laughter from teachers in states where the average is much higher it for instance Utah where it’s 27 as it happens though 27 is the national average for English Primary School this

Was even the case when I was at school back in 1782 to 1782 in the United States Middle School is an alternate Dimension that exists between elementary school and high school education this dark underworld of sorcery is where teachers become locked in a battle of wit against a hive mind

Of monsters known as eighth graders the average class size for departmentalized instruction is about 25 which only adds an extra layer to this already cruel hellscape in England it goes like this the upside down is known generally as secondary school mercifully the average class size is about 22 but while this

Nightmarish period of Education with the United States roughly encompasses the age of 11 to 14 it doesn’t end there in England it drags on for another two years coinciding age-wise with America’s freshman and sophomore years of high school which by the way brings us on to

This so that’s inter so H how does the if you’ve got say I don’t remember what it was 25 students to be no he said 27 was the average for England right how does it go from you’re in primary school and you’ve got 27 students in a class

How does it all of a sudden dropped to 22 if the same students have continued going up has that many students failed no I would say maybe it’s more Middle School maybe there’s more teachers or more middle schools yeah maybe more teachers yeah maybe that’s what it is

But for here for me it was uh kindergarten through fifth grade would be considered Elementary um and then sixth grade I went to a school all by itself which was which is rare I don’t think that’s which was middle school for me at one one year sixth grade uh and

Then Junior High which is what some people also call Middle School uh was seventh and e8th grade and then high school was 9th 10th 11th I feel like most places though isn’t Middle School sixth seventh and eth I think so yeah because an elementary school is kindergarten through fifth yeah it was

Just in my situation for some reason I went to one school that was only sixth graders and it was just kind of odd looking back on it but but when I was really interesting sorry there’s a ladybug on this when I or a ladybug ladybug um when

I was in elementary school our Middle School was all in the same building as the elementary so it was all one thing and you go through and now they’ve actually changed it but well then you go through like you went through some double doors and you’re in your high

School right right yeah but it’s a scary transition like going from elementary school and not really having the Middle School transition to high school building yeah but you basically technically were in the same building for your entire like for whether your elementary middle or high school just different sections just different

Sections separated by double doors that’s crazy but how many people did you have in your it was a small school right I didn’t graduate from that school but right how many was in the gradua the graduating class from my year was probably like I don’t even know like 40

50 kids yeah it was pretty small yeah I think mine was I don’t know in the hundreds couple hundred but yeah anyway is high school in the United States this is a period of Education from the ages of about 14 to 18 after freshman and sophomore year comes grade

11 or junior year and grade 12 senior year this is typically when when the students begin their development into humans but it’s also when most students take their SATs a series of tests to determine Readiness for college these are not to be confused with the English SATs or SATs which are assessments taken

By seven and 11 year olds in England it is a similar process but by a different name and before keyboard Warriors like Uncle Toby start writing in all caps that we have high schools in the UK I know we do but to keep things simple that same period of schooling is is

Typically structured like this age-wise the last two years of secondary school are to England what freshman and sophomore years are to America okay this is when pupils across the country take GCSE tests in all their subjects to determine suitability further qualifications meanwhile the English age equivalents of Junior and Senior year

Take place in what is known as sixth form or college this is the point in education where we stop wearing uniforms and start dressing like John Travolta it’s also where we study two or three chosen specialized subjects as part of our a levels for me this was English History and theater studies because

That’s how you become a YouTube sensation the results of these tests determine your suitability for University they’re often compared to America’s advanced placement exams while I like this better it’s much more confusing to me a little bit because we didn’t grow up that way but I like the

Concept more so you got so so there’s only primary and secondary school up until grade year 12 and 13 well they’re year 12 and 13 and then you basically have something called sixth form or college MH and that is 11 and 12 so is that out that so they’re no longer going

12 and 13 I thought 10 11 was yeah year 12 and third that’s what I mean and um it would be our 11th and 12th grade um and so are they no longer in the same building with yeah where does this take place yeah like are you completely

Separated and that’s why you’re no longer having to wear the uniform or are they literally once you get are you in the same building with the other secondary schoolers I thought it something but they just happen to wear uniforms and you don’t have to but that wouldn’t make any sense would it because

Then it’s like completely breaking up this stuff same yeah I think let us know in the comments guys but I think think when you go to the was it sixth form how did they how do he say that first sixth how did he say that I don’t I don’t

Where was that I don’t even know where it was I can’t remember where I don’t see it but it was College basically so let us know guys is when College the year 12 and 13 is that in a completely different building different School than the uh

Kids that are in like uh year 10 and 11 I’m guessing it is but uh he didn’t really cover that but I’m guessing you go to college it’s different thing so are both help to determine a students path in higher education they’re not entirely the same thing that being said

Higher education does come with its own differences in the US College means something entirely different it’s the general catch all term for Antion of higher education this is referred as University or uni because everything devolves into slang at some point of course specific institutions in both countries play hard

And fast with this role see for example Harvard University and Imperial College London for American students a bog standard bachelor’s degree takes four years to complete while in England unless I you know somehow skipped a year which is entirely plausible in hindsight a bachelor’s degree typically lasts 3

Years upon completion students in both countries can graduate with honors the difference though is how this is printed on a degree transcrip in England Bachelor of Arts or ba might be followed by the word honors or on because C previous comment about slang in America they’re all about their Latin so honors

Are signified by phrases like come loud Magna come loud cumulo Nimbus or Cactus pricus like any good teacher I’ve left the best bit until the end of class it wouldn’t be America and England if they weren’t separated by a Common Language so let’s take a rapid fire look at the

Differences in educational terminology as we’ve already seen you’ve got grade versus year but you’ve also got semester versus term while America has its students England has its pupils whether or not they attend elementary school or primary school high school or college or college or uni there’s a good chance

They’ll have to study math or maths and in England we don’t take tests we take exams in England a rber erases a mistake in America it prevents one and speaking of words that have different meanings let’s finish today’s class and or module by talking about two words that perennially cause confusion public

School in the United States a public school is one that is publicly funded and free for students to attend in 2016 More than 70% of students were publicly educated in the US as opposed to privately educ ated in England a public school is something different in the

Late 1800s the term public was used in the sense of these schools being open to pupils of any locality denomination or paternal trade basically anyone whose parents could afford it so an English public school is a private school public SCH is a private is called a state

School which has nothing to do with state universities in America it’s all it’s all confusing and I’ve lost my train of thought ah Saved by the Bell that’s it for this episode thank you for joining me let me know in the comments below if you’ve attended a school in either America or

The United Kingdom and you have some other suggestions for entries for part two if you like the sound of my all right guys that was interesting yeah it was um I I I remember a little bit of that when I previously uh did uh learned a little bit about British schools but

It’s definitely uh continued my education on uh you know some of these differences but uh what did you what stuck out to you the most about this honestly the public school versus private public school is private school yeah that’s surprises me and then a state school is

Like the general well generally if I if I think of state school and public school that makes sense because the state the state think about what you when you the state it makes sense yeah U but you know I I think think that uh you know there there’s definitely some

Differences the uniforms and uh just the terminology is completely different in a lot of ways um I would love to see I want to see more indepth about curriculum like I want to know what’s different there and I feel like there’s a lot yeah let us know in the comments

Guys if you have any interesting videos ideas for us to check out when it comes to other education or School related stuff with when it’s British versus American or even if it’s just in the UK in general um curriculum is one of those things like you said that we would like

To check out not really sure I guess we could I don’t know we’d have to I don’t really know what to look for unless Just Us versus UK curriculum or something like that but uh I don’t even know if there’s a video on that I don’t know it’

Be interesting I would really like to check that out too see what the differences are there um I know there’s got to be numerous differences um but uh yeah this was interesting you got think you want to add all right thank you so much for stopping by guys please click

That like button feel free to drop your comments or suggestions about this video others and don’t forget to subscribe to continue to follow us on our journey to discover our British and Irish ancestry till next time guys peace bye