English Preparatory School Uniforms: Ages


Figure 1.--This boy at 8 years of age is beginning his boarding school career. Boarding meant quite a bit of clothing and equipment.

The traditional preparatory school was for boys 8-13 years of age. This was a general standard. Some boys began at an earlist age, but boys younger than 7 were not common. The older boys usually began the last year at age 12, but most turnefd 13 by the end of the school term. Only occassionaly were boys still at the chools by age 14. This age range became standardized when public (elite secondary) schools began standardizing the entry age at 13. Modern prep schools have a somewhat more complicated age range. This is because to guarantee a more steady entry rate and to prepare the boys for prep school, many prepschools opened pre-prearatory schools. Thus some prep schools have programs beginning at age 4-5 years old. The age range for girls is some what different. Many girls' public schools have a program behinning at age 11. Thus some girls often left their preparatory school earlier than boys. This is why coed [rep schools often have fewer girls in the last 2 years. Another complication is that some public schools have internal prep sections. Often these schools mirror the state system and move the children from the primary (junior) to the secondary (senior) section at age 11 or 12. Prep school boys going to these schools might make the move at ahe 11-12 so they start the secondary program at the same time as the boys from the schools internal junior section.






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Created: 10:14 PM 7/16/2004
Last updated: 10:15 PM 7/16/2004