<p>I am in the 12th grade right now and turning 17 in december. I am going to London next year for further study. I am not sure if I go straight to uni or do I have to complete something called "A-Level" first. I need some help and information about the system there. Please help!</p>
<p>There is a UK board similar to this at</p>
<p><a href="http://www">www</a>. the student room .co .uk</p>
<p>remove the spaces for the link to work.</p>
<p>If you have not completed high school and want to attend a UK university, you will have to finish your high school in the UK. Either by going to an American school or international school and getting your US diploma/IB, or by enrolling in a British school and doing A-levels. </p>
<p>UK A-levels are NOT multiple choice tests taken on one day. They take 2 years, and the final grade for a subject includes class work, projects and exams over the whole 2 years. Most people only take 3-4 subjects. If you want to study a particular subject at a UK university, there may be required A-levels that you have to take. e.g. I did Natural sciences at Cambridge and I had to take A-level Chemistry plus 2 other sciences to be considered.</p>
<p>If you need any sort of financial aid, you may want to consider going back to the US for college. In the UK you will be classed as an overseas student (until you or your parents have paid taxes in an EU country for 3/4 years. It doesn't matter what your citizenship is. UK students who live overseas must pay overseas fees too) and pay 10x as much as a UK student. There is usually zero financial aid available for overseas undergraduates at the vast majority of UK universities. They make their money out of overseas students. that is how it works.</p>
<p>NB Just a heads up on the terminology. The word "college" in the UK refers either to a residential college within a university, OR "6th form college", which is the place you study A-levels at aged 16-18. This may be the same school that also teaches 11-16 year olds, or it may be a different one. "School" is for under 16s. 'University' is a US college or university. There are no liberal arts schools, community colleges or anything like that. Just one form of over-18 school called a university. If you tell someone from the UK that you're looking for a 'school' and you're 18 or over, they will direct you to some kind or remedial class LOL! Their 'school' is for kids.</p>