A sixth form college is an educational institution in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Belize, the Caribbean, Malta, Norway, Brunei, among others, (and until 2012 in Hong Kong) where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A-levels, BTEC and the International Baccalaureate Diploma, or school-level qualifications such as GCSEs. In Singapore and India, this is known as a junior college. The municipal government of the city of Paris uses the phrase "sixth form college" as the English name for a lycée.
In England and the Caribbean, education is compulsory until the end of year 13, the school year in which the pupil turns 18 (although education was only compulsory until year 11 before August 2013 and until year 12 between August 2013 and 2015). In the English state educational system, pupils may either stay at a secondary school with an attached sixth form, transfer to a local sixth form college, or go to a more vocational further education college, although in some places there may in practice be little choice which of these options can be taken. In the independent sector, sixth forms are an integral part of secondary schools (public schools), and there is also a number of smaller-scale independent sixth form colleges. In Wales, education is only compulsory until the end of year 11.