- Form (education)
A form is a class or grouping of students in a
school . The term is used predominantly in theUnited Kingdom , although some schools, mostly private, in other countries also use the title. Pupils are usually grouped in forms according to age and will remain with the same group for a number of years, or sometimes their entire school career.Forms are normally identified by a number such as "first form" or "
sixth form ". A form number may be used for two year groups and differentiated by the terms upper and lower. Thesixth form is the senior form of a school, and is usually divided into two year groups: the lower sixth and upper sixth. If there is more than one form for each year group they will normally be differentiated by the letters A to D or X, Y, L and M. As in "upper four B", "lower two Y". Schools are frequently eccentric in how they name forms and do not follow a consistent pattern.Another common identification for form, and one of the most common in
New Zealand , is the number of the year they are in, followed by the cypher of the teacher who takes the form class (e.g. 11JS would be a Year 11 class, who the form teacher is John Smith (cypher JS)).In some older schools, especially the older
grammar school s andpublic school s, some forms are not given numbers but traditional names such as shell and remove.
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