Originally Posted by ultramarina
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The calculus A/B here appears to cover stuff equivalent to an O level or gifted 15 year old/NT 16 year old in the UK.

I don't know anything about this, so I cannot say if this is correct. If it is correct, why is this so? Better math education in earlier grades? Is the UK typically considered a country with great math education? (Not asked snarkily, but I don't remember it being listed as such typically.) If calculus is typical at 16 in lots of countries in the rest of the world, then it's interesting that we are worried about calculus at 17/18 (heck, these days, 19) in the US.

In the UK kids can leave school at 16.

After 16 if they want to stay on they have to have done well with the EOY exams (O levels) taken at 16 in the subjects that they wish to pursue further.This means that kids taking a Maths A level are not your average kids in terms of Maths ability, kids taking a Physics A level are not kids with only average ability etc.

Kids specialise much earlier in the UK than in the US...

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