Requirements For Receiving A Diploma
Most countries around the world award high school diplomas on the basis of completing appropriate coursework and passing one or more standardized tests. Every country has different requirements for receiving a diploma, and in some cases, individual schools set their own requirements. Requirements also change over time. There is no single, universal set of requirements for receiving a high school diploma. Every time and place has different requirements.
A person who qualifies for a diploma, but has not yet received it, is called a graduand; after receiving it, the person is called a graduate.
Education systems based on the British model have independently marked national examinations for each subject instead of a High School Diploma — General Certificate of Secondary Education in England and Wales, School Leaving Certificates in Ireland, Higher Grade Examination in Scotland, and IGCSE/AICE internationally. Caribbean Examination Council Certificates are also given to students in the Caribbean after completion of a five years of secondary education, and are accepted regionally and internationally.
European schools use the Baccalaureate system. The International Baccalaureate (IB) is becoming increasingly popular in the USA and worldwide.
In the United States, most states require students to take and pass a standardized test before graduation. The curriculum and implementation has varied depending upon the state. Florida uses the English, Welsh and Northern Irish A-level program (called Advanced International Certificate of Education) for advanced students while a number of schools in Virginia use the IGCSE. General education students who pass the twelfth grade in the US by completing enough classes, but do not meet all of the standard graduation requirements, will not receive a high school diploma, but will instead receive a certificate of attendance.
Australia has six state-based systems and two territory-based systems, which have different curriculums, standards and pathways, but all of which (except for Queensland) produce a common Australian Tertiary Admission Rank which is recognised nationally. Several Australian private schools, and a number of public schools in the state of South Australia, offer the IB as an alternative.
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