What was a grammar school?

Answer 1

Grammar schools were selective schools taking children from ages 11 - 16. All children were required to sit an exam in their final year of primary education, the exam was call the eleven plus. Children who passed this exam were granted a place at the local grammar school those who did not pass were required to attend the local secondary modern. The idea was that children would be streamed according to aptitude; a grammar school education would concentrate on academic subjects and lead to "O" level qualifications and a secondary modern education would lead to more technical qualifications such as carpentry (boys) and secretarial studies (girls). Many grammar schools had a degree of pageantry associated with uniform, crest and Latin mottoes reminiscent of some of the older universities. Ideally this system would have lead to children regardless of background being able to enter top professions and top universities, in practice grammar schools required expensive uniforms and it wasn't always possible for those winning a place to go. The nature of the eleven plus was later called into question as some of the questions required reasoning skills which were beyond the age range of most of the students sitting it and the very notion that one test could have such a big influence on a person's life was felt to be unjust by some.

Modern grammar schools are selective schools which children volunteer to sit entrance exams for. These schools select children with high academic potential although it is argued that a certain parental attitude is being selected for too normally resulting in a higher than average for the location percentage of high income families. Selective schools do tend to have higher than average exam results.

Answer 2

In the United States, a grammar school is a school that young children go to. Grammar school is another term for an elementary school.

Answer 3

Grammar schools are secondary schools for children that have taken either an entrance exam or the 11+ and got a good enough score. They push you further than high schools and are free.

Answer 4

Elementry School back in the days!