The British Primary and Secondary School System

Children go into a class depending on the age that they will become between 1^st September and the following 31^st August. The Academic Year begins on 1^st September.

Keystage	School Year	Other Description	Birthday during the School Year	Approximate US Grade
Preschool	Children enter Pre-school sometime after they are 2 years and 6 months old. They do not wait until September to start.
Keystage 1	Reception	Rising 5’s	5^th	PK
	Year 1	Infants	6^th	Kindergarten
	Year 2	Top Infants	7^th	1^st
Keystage 2	Year 3	Bottom Junior	8^th	2^nd
	Year 4	2nd Junior	9^th	3^rd
	Year 5	3rd Junior	10^th	4^th
	Year 6	Top Junior	11^th	5^th
Keystage 3	Year 7	First form	12^th	6^th
	Year 8	Second form	13^th	7^th
	Year 9	Third form	14^th	8^th
GCSE 1^st	Year 10	Fourth form	15^th	9^th
GCSE 2^nd	Year 11	Fifth form	16^th	10^th
A Levels 1^st	Year 12	Lower Sixth form	17^th	11^th
A Levels 2^nd	Year 13	Upper Sixth form	18^th	12^th

MCS was founded in 1548 and draws from all the state schools in Brackley and the surrounding villages.

There is a local fee paying "Prep School" called Winchester House School after which the nearest fee-paying “Public School” is Stowe. Prep Schools cover up to about year 8.