I'll do my best to explain it.
NOTE: This is the school system for England and Wales. Scotland has a different system.
School starts when a child is 4 or 5. First there is primary school:
Reception (4-5) [not much teaching, it's just getting the child used to school]
Year 1 (5-6)
Year 2 (6-7)
Year 3 (7-8)
Year 4 (8-9)
Year 5 (9-10)
Year 6 (10-11)
At the end of year 6 and I think also 2 (the year 2 exam may have been abolished, I can't remember), there are SATs (Standard Assessment Tests, pronounced 'sats', not 'S-A-Ts'). These are for English, maths and science only and the results are in a level system. They are very unimportant.
Then secondary school starts:
Year 7 (11-12)
Year 8 (12-13)
Year 9 (13-14)
Year 10 (14-15)
Year 11 (15-16)
At the end of year 9, there is another set of SATs. In years 10 and 11, students study for GCSEs (General Certificate in Secondary Education), where the number of subjects they study is reduced (maths, English and science are compulsory). GCSE marks range from A* to G or thereabouts.
---End of compulsory education---
Then the student moves into the sixth form. Often this will be in the same school, but sometimes in a separate sixth form college.
Year 12 (16-17) [lower sixth]
Year 13 (17-18) [upper sixth]
In year 12 students study for AS (Advanced Subsidiary) exams, taking either 4 or 5 subjects of their choice. They take the exam at the end of the year, and the highest grade possible is 'A'. In year 13, subjects are studied for A-level (Advanced level) exams at the end of the year, graded like ASs. AS marks form half of the final A-level mark in the subjects. Often a subject is dropped between years 12 and 13
Then a student can leave to study at university.
See, that wasn't too complicated, was it

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