Student - Other Terms

Other Terms

• Students who are repeating a grade level of schooling due to poor grades are sometimes referred to as having been "held back" or "kept back". In Singapore they are described as "retained". In the Philippines they are called "repeater".

• The term 'pupil' (originally a Latin term for a minor as the ward of an adult guardian, etc.) is used in some Commonwealth primary and secondary schools (particularly in England and Wales) instead of "student", but once attending higher education such as sixth-form college, etc., the term "student" is standard.

• The United States military academies officially use only numerical terms, but there are colloquial expressions used in everyday speech. In order from first year to fourth year, students are referred to as "fourth-class", "third-class", "second-class", and "first-class" cadets or midshipmen. Unofficially, other terms are used, for example at the United States Military Academy, freshmen are called "plebes", sophomores are called "yearlings" or "yuks", juniors are called "cows", and seniors are called "firsties". Some universities also use numerical terms to identify classes; students enter as "first-years" and graduate as "fourth-years" (or, in some cases, "fifth-years", "sixth-years", etc.).

• In the United States, a "gunner" is a term for a hyper competitive student. The term usually references a legal, medical or dental student. Gunners will do whatever it takes to be the best. This ranges from working very hard to sabotaging peers. The gunners are normally either concerned with getting into a professional school or excelling in the professional school to continue on to a specialty.