First year

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First year is a phrase often used to describe students' status during their first year at an educational institution. It can also be used as a synonym for the students themselves (e.g. "I am a first year").

[edit] United Kingdom

The term "first year" is commonly used in the British education system, although in schools it is no longer in official usage. In England and Wales a student's school career (not including pre-school nursery education) now begins with "Year 1", usually at the age of five, and continues up to either "Year 11" or "Year 13" depending on whether the student is going on to higher education. However, in informal usage the term "first year" is still very common.

Before the introduction of the "Year X" system around the early 1990s, although many pupils (especially those attending middle schools) moved up from their previous tier of education at the age of 12 or 13, by convention the definition "first year" was almost always used to mean an 11-year-old; this meant that a student might go straight from the "fourth year" (of middle school) to the "third year" (of high school).

In Scotland, the first year of secondary school is known as "S1", but again "first year" is commonly used to describe this.

[edit] United States

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Freshman has long been the most common word used to describe first-year students in the U.S., but in recent years "first year" has gained popularity as a result of its gender neutral language.