Form (education)

A form is a class or grouping of students in a school. The term is used predominantly in the United Kingdom, although some schools, mostly private, in other countries also use the title. Pupils are usually grouped in forms according to age and will remain with the same group for a number of years, or sometimes their entire school career.

Forms are normally identified by a number such as "first form" or "sixth form". A form number may be used for two year groups and differentiated by the terms upper and lower. The sixth form is the senior form of a school, and is usually divided into two year groups: the lower sixth and upper sixth. If there is more than one form for each year group they will normally be differentiated by the letters A to D or X, Y, L and M. As in "upper four B", "lower two Y". Schools are frequently eccentric in how they name forms and do not follow a consistent pattern.

Another common identification for form, and one of the most common in New Zealand, is the number of the year they are in, followed by the cypher of the teacher who takes the form class (e.g. 11JS would be a Year 11 class, who the form teacher is John Smith (cypher JS)).

In some older schools, especially the older grammar schools and public schools, some forms are not given numbers but traditional names such as shell and remove.