[Borek]

In Poland most schools - up to lycee^* level - start today (September 1st). All academic schools (like universities, technical universities, medical academies) start on October 1st.

How does it look in other countries?

^*There are four levels of schools in Poland. Primary - 6 grades, gymnasiums - 3 grades, lycees - 3 grades. 4th level are academic schools. College level doesn't exist in Poland (or at least that's my understanding, I am not sure as I don't know enough about American education system).

[Donaldson Tan]

The Singapore education system is modelled after the British GCSE & GCE.

there are 4 levels of education in Singapore

the lowest level is pre-primary, aka kindergarten. it is 2yr long.

the next level is primary school - 6yr long.

the next level after primary school is secondary school - 4yr long. at the end of 4years, secondary school students have to take the Cambridge-Singapore GCSE examination. it is so much harder than the British equivalent.

Students who fare well for GCSE will enter junior college to do a 2yr GCE A-level course, before entering universities.

Students who do not fare very well for GCSE normally opt for polytechnic. They will spend 3yr studying a vocational diploma. There are many vocational diplomas available, from law, business, accountings, chemical process technology to aeronautics, electrical engineering, computing, education, mass communication. however, there is no diploma course in Singapore on psychology, literature, or any specialised social science.

[Blueshawk]

in the US, as far as I know, most schools have kindergarden through 8th grade as one school.

that is ages 5-14, some break the k-8 into two schools k-4th grade and 5th - 8th

that is 5-10 then ages 11-14

then there is 9th grade to 12th grade....ages 15-18

the whole K-12 program is considered primary schooling and then secondary schooling is undergraduate work...or universities and colleges.

But for starting...it is up to the school....most primary schools start the last week of Aug or first week of Sept.

Most 2-year colleges start at the end of Aug or start of Sept.

and most 4-year universities start the first week of Sept.  

I start Sept 6th.

I am attending and have attended school in Wisconsin, US.

[mike]

Australia:

Kindergarten (kindy): 0-4years old
Primary school: ~5-12 years old (levels/years 1-7)
High school: ~13-17 years old (levels/years 8-12) note that years 11 and 12 of high school are publicly examined and are what are used to carry on to tertiary education.
University and TAFE: University is fairly standard TAFE = tertiary and further education (like technical colleges but offering loads of subjects)

There are four tems at school:
term 1: 31st Jan - 15th April
term 2: 4th april - 17 June
term 3: 27th July - 30th Sep
term 4: 17th Oct - 16th Dec

University is two semesters:
semester 1: Feb 21 - Jun 13
semester 2: Jul 25 - Nov 7

[Alberto_Kravina]

Here in Austria all schools (high school, middle school, elementary school) start the first week of september and end at the first week of july.

[Albert]

In Italy there are, in chronological order: 5 years of primary school, 3 years of secondary school, 5 years of high school (which can be basically a technical school or a lycee).

At the moment, everyone must pass an exam at the end of the last year of secondary school.

Depending on the region, school years begin in the middle of September.

Lectures, at the university, begin approximately at the end of September.