Choose an American school if your child is likely to apply to universities in the United States or Canada, or if you want a broad programme to 18 with grades that build up year by year. Choose a British school if your child is likely to go back to school in the UK, or does well with big public exams at 16 and wants three or four subjects after that.
Not sure where your child will end up? Then look for the IB Diploma, a two-year course that can sit on top of either system and is recognised in more than 150 countries. Neither system is better. We are an American international school, so read this guide knowing that: the facts below hold for any school, and the last section says what IAS teaches.
Talk to admissions about your child's age and current school.
How each system is organised
American schools count in grades: Kindergarten, then Grades 1 to 12. The United States has no national curriculum. States, districts and schools decide what is taught, so an American school abroad sets its own programme and normally has it checked by an accreditation body, and students keep a spread of subjects right up to Grade 12, with more choice in the last years.
British schools count in years: Reception, then Year 1 to Year 13. State schools in England follow a national curriculum and British schools abroad usually build on it, so a child who moves from a school in England to a British school in another country normally finds the same year groups and the same exams waiting. The big narrowing comes at 16. After Year 11 most students drop to three subjects, sometimes four, and spend Years 12 and 13 on those alone.
Scotland has its own system. "British" in this guide means the English model.
How children are assessed
The American model is continuous. Homework, projects, quizzes and tests all feed into a grade for each course, every semester, teachers mark most of it, and no national exam decides whether a student graduates.
The British model builds towards public exams. English primary schools have national tests in Year 6, which many parents still call SATs and which have nothing to do with the American SAT, and most students then sit GCSEs or IGCSEs at the end of Year 11 and A-levels at the end of Year 13, all marked outside the school.
A child who works steadily and panics in exam halls usually has an easier time with the first model. A child who dislikes being marked all year and peaks at exam time often prefers the second.
Grade or Year: which class would my child be in?
British Year numbers run one ahead of American Grades. Year 7 is Grade 6. Year 12 is Grade 11. Poland counts differently again, by calendar year of birth, so the Polish klasa depends on the month your child was born.
| Age on 1 September | US Grade | UK Year (England and Wales) | Polish klasa |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Pre-K | Reception | Przedszkole |
| 5 | Kindergarten | Year 1 | Przedszkole or zerówka |
| 6 | Grade 1 | Year 2 | Zerówka or klasa 1 |
| 7 | Grade 2 | Year 3 | Klasa 1 or 2 |
| 8 | Grade 3 | Year 4 | Klasa 2 or 3 |
| 9 | Grade 4 | Year 5 | Klasa 3 or 4 |
| 10 | Grade 5 | Year 6 | Klasa 4 or 5 |
| 11 | Grade 6 | Year 7 | Klasa 5 or 6 |
| 12 | Grade 7 | Year 8 | Klasa 6 or 7 |
| 13 | Grade 8 | Year 9 | Klasa 7 or 8 |
| 14 | Grade 9 | Year 10 | Klasa 8 or liceum 1 |
| 15 | Grade 10 | Year 11 | Liceum 1 or 2 |
| 16 | Grade 11 | Year 12 | Liceum 2 or 3 |
| 17 | Grade 12 | Year 13 | Liceum 3 or 4 |
In the Polish column, a child born from January to August is in the lower class and a child born from September to December is in the higher one. An example: a child born in March 2013 who starts in September 2027 is 14 on 1 September, which means Grade 9, Year 10 and klasa 8.
Treat the table as a guide. Cut-off dates differ between American states, a birthday close to 1 September could fit either year, and at IAS Kindergarten runs from about 4.5 to 6, so a child of four and a half may already be in KG. Admissions confirms every grade after a conversation with your family, and our grade calculator gives the result for your child's date of birth.
Diploma and GPA, or GCSEs and A-levels
An American student leaves with two papers. The diploma shows that the required courses and credits were completed, usually across Grades 9 to 12, and the transcript lists every course and grade, which together produce a grade point average (GPA), often on a 4.0 scale where an A counts as 4.
A British student leaves with separate certificates, one for each subject, and no overall diploma. GCSEs in England are graded 9 to 1, IGCSEs, the international version, A* to G or 9 to 1 depending on the exam board, and A-levels A* to E.
Neither set converts neatly into the other. Universities publish their own entry rules for each.
Where the IB fits
The IB is neither American nor British. The Diploma Programme lasts two years, for students of about 16 to 18, and schools of both kinds teach it: in an American school it fills Grades 11 and 12, and in a British school it takes the place of A-levels in Years 12 and 13.
Students keep six subjects going and add Theory of Knowledge, an Extended Essay and CAS. We will not repeat our other guides here. IB Diploma or A-levels? sets it beside A-levels, and IB, American Diploma or Polish Matura sets it beside the two other diplomas at IAS.
If you may move again
Ask yourself when the move would happen. That matters more than which system you start in.
- Moving to the US or Canada. An American school, or any school with the IB Diploma.
- Back to England before Year 10. Either system works at this age.
- Back to England at 15 or 16. Stay on a British programme if you can, because GCSE and IGCSE courses run across Years 10 and 11 and a late switch can leave a student short of exam subjects.
- A country you cannot name yet. Look for the IB Diploma.
- Staying in Poland for university. Ask about the Polish Matura as well.
The last two years are the hardest time to move in any system, because A-level and IB courses both run for two years and changing school halfway can mean changing subjects, exam boards or both. American credits are simpler to carry. A new American school reads the transcript and counts what is already done.
Ask each school what would happen to your child's courses if you left mid-year.
What universities want
UK universities want depth in the right subjects. Applications go through UCAS, offers name grades in particular subjects, and A-levels and the IB Diploma fit that directly. A US diploma alone is often not enough: many universities ask for it together with AP scores, SAT or ACT scores, or high grades in advanced courses, and each one sets its own mix, as St Andrews and Exeter show.
US universities read the whole file: transcript, GPA, how hard the courses were, essays, teacher letters and activities. Many no longer require the SAT or ACT, some do, and the list changes, so check each college for the year your child applies. IB and A-level applicants are welcome too.
For Poland, NAWA's list of automatically recognised certificates names the American High School Diploma and, for the UK, A-levels in at least three subjects. Recognition is only the first step: each university sets its own entry rules.
What IAS is
IAS is an American international school in Warsaw, founded in 1989. We teach Pre-KG to Grade 12, in English, on the American grade system. We are not a British school and we do not follow a British curriculum. In the final years a student works towards one of three diplomas:
- The American High School Diploma, accredited by Cognia.
- The IB Diploma, in Grades 11 and 12. We have been authorised to teach it since 2006.
- The Polish Matura, on the same campus.
Students graduating with the IB or the Matura are also awarded the American diploma, subject to completing the programme requirements. We do not teach A-levels. We do not teach AP.
Students come to us from British schools too. If your child is on IGCSEs now, our IB or A-levels guide lists what to ask. Fees are on the tuition fees page.
Talk to us about your child
Tell us your child's date of birth, current school and year group, and when you hope to start, and admissions will tell you the likely grade and which routes are open. Talk to admissions or start an application. You can also write to [email protected] or call +48 22 649 14 40.
