Most countries represented here split their primary through secondary level schooling into three levels, referred to here as primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary. The number of years of schooling contained within each of these levels varies from country to country, however. Moreover, even within countries, different students may follow course patterns of different sequence or duration, sometimes depending on whether they follow a vocational track, a university-preparatory track, or some other track. The table below lists the years of schooling by grades that are contained in each level of education.
Some countries offer more than one grade- level sequence in a particular level of education.
While the education systems in many other countries are structured similarly to that of the United States in terms of these levels, the training and education offered at them can vary significantly, particularly at the high school level and above. For example, training offered at the non-baccalaureate higher education level in one country may be offered at the high school level in another, thus contributing to variation in enrollment rates across the levels. The profession of nursing is just one example of a case where comparable training takes place at different education levels in different countries. Comparable training in other countries does, in some cases, take place in non-baccalaureate higher education programs, but rarely in baccalaureate programs. In France, nurse training occurs in non-baccalaureate higher education programs, but rarely in baccalaureate programs.