Secondary school learning

The idea of secondary schooling is, of course, very man-made and arbitrary. It implies a developed system of education structured into several stages. But the stages may be quite different in different times and places. The old German Gymnasium took selected pupils through an academic curriculum between the ages of 10 and 19; English grammar schools typically took pupils from about 11 to 19; English Public Schools have dealt with the age-range 13 to 19; Scottish senior secondary schools ran from 12 to 18. Moreover, most children, except in the United States, tend to leave school by about sixteen, although some have further education in other institutions.