School
A British term which means roughly "a secondary school for all children in a particular neighbourhood". It includes the idea of taking both boys and girls in one school, and the idea of taking children of all abilities. In practice it has many of the problems which are endemic in American high schools. Among its main faults are said to be: putting girls and boys together at the sensitive time of puberty, and the behavioural problems associated with having such a wide range of young people in a large school. Evidence for lowered standards for examinations are disputed, but widely believed to be true.