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class


In NSW, one of the six (?) years of primary education, e.g. 'fourth class'. [I think I have previously suggested this one some months ago, but it doesn't seem to have made it to the WordMap list.] This usage seems to be unique to NSW. As a lifelong Queenslander, I would have said (e.g.) 'Grade 4' when at school in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and, as a parent in the 1980s, 'Year 4': "In fourth class in Kogarah, when we were all about ten years old ..." -- Clive James, Always Unreliable, Picador 2003 (2001), page 55.

Editor's comments: Macquarie Dictionary did a survey on the question of grade/form/year/class - and it seems that none of these terms are truly regional. Different people reported using each them from all areas surveyed. It seems to be a thing that is different in different schools and that also changes over time. But we welcome more comment from contributors. I don't think the question is indisputably settled yet.