In america preschool is 3 and 4 an optional, kindergarten is 5 and mandatory.
Edited by Mortimer333
In the Netherlands, kindergarten and primary school are commonly combined. There are three common levels (exit levels really) between primary school and university, with the highest exit level serving as automatic admission to uni year one (except there may be additional mechanisms to deal with oversubscription). The lower two exit levels commonly serve as true exits to the real world, but equally commonly as entrance to the next one. Parallel to this elevator system, there is also a track system whereby certain classes are taught with the pupils being prepared for a given exit level without having to take the final exams for any intermediate level. In principle, a pupil may be tracked for the lowest exit, succeed there and go on for the intermediate exit, succeed again and decide to go for the top exit. But doing it this way the kid wastes two years on just preparing for these intermediate exams! So this is rare but not unheard of. There are also single-track schools; the difference is similar to that between private and public hospitals in the Anglo-Saxon world, where the private ones are held in higher esteem but in reality often less flexible and encrusted in outmoded ways.
Edited by tweekatten
I'm confused who is taking entrance exams to enter middle school and high school