<P> Education in England is overseen by the United Kingdom's Department for Education . Local government authorities are responsible for implementing policy for public education and state - funded schools at a local level . </P> <P> England also has a tradition of independent schools (sometimes termed "public schools") and home schooling alongside state schools; legally, parents may choose to educate their children by any suitable means . State - funded schools can be categorised as grammar schools, which are selective, or comprehensive schools, which are not . These can be further subdivided into free schools, other academies and state - run schools . More freedom is given to free schools, including most religious schools, and other academies in terms of curriculum, but all are subject to assessment and inspection by Ofsted . </P> <P> The state - funded education system is divided into stages based upon age: Early Years Foundation Stage (ages 3--5); primary education (ages 5 to 11), subdivided into Key Stage 1 (KS1) Infants (ages 5 to 7) and Key Stage 2 (KS2) Juniors (ages 7 to 11); secondary education (ages 11 to 16), subdivided into Key Stage 3 (KS3; ages 11 to 14) and Key Stage 4 (KS4; ages 14 to 16); Key Stage 5 is post-16 education (ages 16 to 18); and tertiary education (for ages 18 +). </P> <P> At age 16 the students typically take exams for the General Certificate of Secondary Education or other Level 1 / 2 qualifications . While education is compulsory until 18, schooling is only compulsory to 16, thus post-16 education can take a number of forms, and may be academic or vocational . This can involve continued schooling, known as "sixth form" or "college", leading (typically after two years of further study) to A-level qualifications (similar to a high school diploma in some other countries), or a number of alternative Level 3 qualifications such as BTEC, the International Baccalaureate or the Cambridge Pre-U . It can also include work - based apprenticeships or traineeships, or volunteering . </P>

What age does college start in the uk
find me the text answering this question