A preschool (also nursery school, pre-primary school, kindergarten outside the US and UK) is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children, usually between the ages of three and five, prior to the commencement of compulsory education at primary school.

They may be privately operated or government run, and one option is to subsidize the costs.

A secondary school is one means of delivering education to adolescents in level 2 or junior secondary education, which is considered the second and final phase of basic education, or level 3 (Upper) secondary education phases on the ISCED scale.

Every country aims to provide schools for basic education, but the systems and terminology remain unique to them.

Secondary schools typically follow on from primary schools.

Attendance is compulsory in most countries for students between the ages 11 and 16.

A middle school (also known as intermediate school or junior high school) is an educational stage, which exists in some countries, and takes place between primary school and high school.

The concept, regulation and classification of middle schools, as well as the ages covered, vary between, and sometimes within, countries.

Elementary school is a school for students at their first school years, before they enter secondary education.

The exact ages vary by country.

Elementary school is usually part of the compulsory education, especially in the Western countries.

Private schools, also known as independent schools, non-governmental, or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students tuition, rather than relying on mandatory taxation through public (government) funding; at some private schools students may be able to get a scholarship, which makes the cost cheaper, depending on a talent the student may have (e.g. sport scholarship, art scholarship, academic scholarship), financial need, or tax credit scholarships that might be available.