UK education system?

[Ireth]

Quick question for those who know about the UK's school system, England specifically. I have a character who's lived and studied in Leeds all her life; at the time of the novel (early November) she's sixteen, and her seventeenth birthday is upcoming in mid-November. Would she be in Year Eleven or Year Twelve (first year of college/university, as far as I know)?

Basically I just need to know so she can answer a question accurately; I'm not going to portray her school life at all, since the bulk of the novel doesn't even take place in our world. So I don't need an overly detailed answer. Thanks!

 

[CupofJoe]

She'd be in Year 12 [or the first year of 6th Form if it was a private school]. She would probably be at an FE [Further Education] college rather than her previous school. She wouldn't be in university that young unless there was an outstanding reason. Most students starting university are 18 or 19 in their first year of university [or older if they have taken a Gap Year].
Too much detail?

 

[Ireth]

Thanks, Joe! I don't think that's too much detail; I don't think I have to figure out exactly what school(s) she went to, tempting though it is for the sake of accuracy. I know what street she lives on, if not her specific house number, so it wouldn't be hard to google schools in the area.

 

[Gryphos]

I concur with CupofJoe that she'd be in Year 12, going through the first year of her A Levels. Years 12 and 13 together are often referred to as 'Sixth Form' for some reason no one knows. Up until 2015 the first year of A Levels was kind of its own separate thing called AS Levels, with its own exams, but then the Conservative Government changed it so the two years both build up to a single set of exams at the end of Year 13. Year 12 students still do exams at the end of the year, but these are really more like mock exams.

Just a little bit of extra detail.