Education A to Z

Education and Curriculum Terms: A Guide for Students and Teachers

Please note: This page explains a word or a process in education. It is general information about the system, the law and the guidance in England — not advice about your child, your school or your exam. If a decision is going against you, get advice from one of the free services we link to before you agree to anything or miss a deadline. If you are revising, check your own exam board's specification: boards word things differently and yours is the one that marks you.

Revising? We write GCSE revision songs — a playlist covering most subjects and the English set texts. Listen to the revision playlist.

500 terms, showing 401–410 (page 41 of 50).

S

Short breaks

Also called Respite, Short break services

Time away for a disabled child, and a break for the family. A duty on councils, and widely under-used.

Significance

Why something mattered — at the time, and since.

Significant figures

The digits in a number that carry meaning. How exam questions usually want answers rounded.

Significant figures in science

How many digits your answer is allowed to claim. Marks are dropped here constantly.

Similar shapes and congruence

Shapes the same shape but different size, and shapes that are identical.

Similarity and difference in history

Comparing periods, places or groups. Not two descriptions side by side.

Simile

A comparison using "like" or "as". The gentler cousin of the metaphor, and often the more precise one.

Simultaneous equations

Two equations solved together to find values that satisfy both.

Sixth form or college

The choice at 16, and the differences that actually matter.

Sketchbook

The record of your thinking. Assessed as heavily as the final piece.

Ready when you are

Have a look round the demo, start a free trial with your own service in it, or ask us the awkward question first. Whichever you pick, the people who answer are the people who built it.