Completar frases Activate B1 Unit 2Versión en línea Reading & Vocabulary: Education por Guadalupe Soto Reyes 1 prepare education subjects fees compulsory repeat foreign secondary Secondary education in the UK is very different from in the rest of Europe . At 11 years old , most British children go to a state school . Their parents don't have to pay tuition . The pupils study all the available for the first two years of secondary school , but they can choose to drop some of them at 14 , when they begin to for their General Certificate of Secondary Educaion exams ( GCSEs ) . They take these exams at 16 . In Scotland the system is slightly different . English pupils have to take exams in the core curriculum subjects , which are English , Maths and Science . They must continue to study a language , Physical Education ( PE ) , Religious Education ( RE ) , Citizenship and Information and Communications Technology ( ICT ) , but they don't have to do an exam in this subjects . Must pupils take about 10 subjects at GCSE level . Up to the age of 16 , school is , but , after this , pupils can choose to leave school or continue into their further education . Even if a student fails their exams they never have to a year in British schools .