#guide: character

My biggest struggle, but also probably the biggest blessing, was trying to sort through and learn about all of the different identities that I’d found out about once gender became less boy and girl. I owe the knew knowledge I had to a web-series called Carmilla, and I owe the remaining and future knowledge to a youtuber by the name of Ash Hardell, who’s videos are beyond educational (seriously if you ever want to learn about gender identities and different labels go to their channel, it’s incredible).

The first label I used was nonbinary, it was the one I felt most comfortable with at 23 and not having a clue as to what my gender identity really was. I enjoyed my feminine side, I even thought I was pretty. And while some days I was very dysphoric about my chest, others I was more than happy to look down and say ‘damn I have some nice boobs’. Which brings your character to the next set of questions. What about their body do they love, what can they simply appreciate, and what do they absolutely despise? Because there is a difference between appreciating something and actually loving it. I appreciated my boobs, but I didn’t love them. However, my hair I loved, but I also love my short hair as well. It makes me feel better connected to myself. So take your character head to toe, list the things like like about themselves, and sort out what they appreciate and what they love. And then make a separate list for what they hate.

There’s a common misconception that transgender people hate everything about their bodies, or have to be dysphoric at all. The fact is, being trans is different for everyone. For some, yes, it can be crippling dysphoria and severe depression. For me, it was minor dysphoria, and overall unhappiness in myself over something I couldn’t identify, and wishing for people to see me as a boy. In that sense I was more socially dysphoric as opposed to physically dysphoric (more on this in a few). And then we have some that simply don’t experience dysphoria at all, they just know that the way society views them is not how they view themselves. And they know they want to fix that.

With physical dysphoria it is about your body, the things that make you feel like you are not the gender you know you are internally. Hair, face shape, shoulders, genitalia, leg hair, adam’s apple, even height. These are all some of the things a person suffering with physical dysphoria would take note of.

With social dysphoria, it’s more about how society see’s you and what it is about your social interactions that make you come off more masculine/feminine. Voice, for instance, was a major social one for me, because my voice was relatively deep for a female it was still too high to be seen as male. The body language I used is also quite feminine. I pop my hip a lot, click my tongue, wave my hand, all things stuck with the ‘feminine’ label. And it was due to growing up and learning body language from other people that shared my sex.

So when writing your character, know what kind of dysphoria that they experience. Is it mostly social or physical, is it a balance between both?

Also keep in mind that dysphoria isn’t just about the chest and the genitals. Yes for some that’s a huge problem, but for me my lower half gives me no dysphoria. The worst I get is penis envy but never truly dysphoric. My biggest dysphoria comes from my voice, as I said, second to that my muscles, after that my chest, and then after that my height. Dysphoria can present itself in so many different ways and in so many different levels. How much someone experiences will be unique to that person, and no person, character, mun, anyone should tell someone that the way they feel their dysphoria is wrong. So keep this in mind when roleplaying with another trans character, just because their character’s dysphoria does not match your idea, it does not make it any less valid.

Getting back to dysphoria and identities, there sadly is a struggle with the standard ‘quota’ on dysphoria. Because media presents being dysphoric as a sort of requirement, finding one’s gender identity can feel like we are simply making it all up in our heads. So when I finally came to realize that it in fact, is not a requirement, I began to label myself as genderfluid. Because again, I didn’t hate myself for being a woman, and in my mind that was what was required to be a trans male. I can say, the more I explored the masculine side of gender fluidity, the more I began falling deeper and deeper into self discovery. Cutting long hair to short hair seems to be a turning point in a lot of the trans guys I see both on Tumblr and on Youtube. It was sort of like that eye opening moment of ‘Yes. This fits me. Yes.’ A sort of silent validation that this is who you are. For me, I tried to keep it feminine cut, wanting to cling to the female side of gender fluidity due to my relationship with a lesbian cis woman.

However when I got home and saw the cut, it felt worse than when I had long hair. I no longer had the femininity of my long hair, but this wasn’t quite masculine enough in my opinion either. So I went in and chopped my hair off little by little until I got to a length I was happy with. 

For me, my long hair was the biggest thing about my femininity, and even though it was my favorite part about myself, it also made people think I was only female and that didn’t work for me on days when I felt very masculine.

My point in this is that finding the right label and growing comfortable in said label is a process in itself. The entire journey through gender identity is long. Painfully long. And before you know it so much time has passed by just trying it figure out who you are and what your identity is. In my opinion this is critical to the development of a character, knowing the struggles they went through to find their label and to grow comfortable in it. Because as you can see, I very much am not genderfluid, but at the time that was the label I was happy with. It was a stepping stone in the full journey, and that is what character development is about. The journey to who your character is today, and why they are that way. Research as many labels as possible, think about what they would realistically feel comfortable labeling themselves as before transgender fits them (that is if yours struggles with identities, if not then feel free to skip ahead). The following links are to Ash Hardell’s very educational videos on gender identity that they made and I think are a great tool in both writing and in the self.

All About Pronouns

Everything Gender Part One

Everything Gender Part Two

Greygender

Settling into the trans label was oddly difficult. I don’t think it was internalized transphobia because it had nothing to do with transphobia and more to do with me thinking I wasn’t allowed to label myself as transgender given all the facts I’ve mentioned before. So now would be a good time to reflect on your character building. With their experiences as kids and on, their sexuality labels and their comfort in those labels, and now the stepping stone labels (if they used any before identifying as transgender), would your character feel comfortable and sure enough to label themselves as transgender? If yes, congrats feel free to move ahead. If no, then the rest of this will be catered to you.

Growing comfortable in a label, in my opinion, is all about the research done. Learning what it means to identify as that label, and listening to others experiences when finding themselves and identifying with that label. Below is a video I watched (excluding one by Benton Sorensen which was the genuine video that validated my identity. He has since deleted it) that helped me immensely through my journey and I think will further help you in putting your mindset in that of a trans guy (I cannot and will not speak on behalf of trans women because it is my belief that socially they have it much harder and have an entirely different struggle than trans men face. Again, just my opinion).

I Didn’t Know I Was Transgender

I’d like to remind everyone reading that transitioning and figuring themselves out is different for everyone, however, Taylor O’Keefe’s video was like someone took my life and had someone else speak about it. So while there are differences, there are also many similarities on the emotional and mental level. The thought processes when questioning your gender.

So if your character was not feeling comfortable identifying as trans before, write in how they grew comfortable, or have that be a plotline in your story/verse. Because it can be a long grueling process full of self doubt and at times self loathing, I can’t think of a better source of angst than feeling like you are at war with yourself.

Prompt Version:

What about your characters body do they love?

What about your characters body do they appreciate?

What about your characters body do they hate?

Do they experience more physical dysphoria or social dysphoira? Or a balance of both?

Does your character feel comfortable enough at this point in time, to for sure call themselves transgender?

This is something that so many youth struggle with, even me at 24 had no idea how to come out and it wasn’t the best experience, however it wasn’t the worst. No matter what kind of experience it is, no one should take away the bravery or the strength it takes to tackle this obstacle. And everyone deserves to feel proud of themselves for it.

To start, I want to say that some people don’t come out to family for safety reasons. And because I am an advocate of keeping the community safe (especially mentally as many people use rp as a way to cope and escape from the world) I beg anyone reading this not to use coming out as a reason for some abuse thread. For a characters backstory sure, because the plot can then revolve around the recovery. However as a thread where it is being currently written is something that many people have already faced, and do not need to see, even if it is to a fictional character. Many times it is the description that causes trauma to resurface and I would hate for anyone to be forced to face that again. So please, keep any abuse stories left as backstories.

As far as the actual act, this is another thing entirely up to you as the writer. I won’t go into my experience as much because it was rather dull and unimportant. I will say though, that not all parents that claim to be accepting will actually show acceptance. There are not the only two extremes in someone accepting or not accepting. A parent could say they are fine with their child being trans, but then never use their proper pronouns (note they are not preferred, they are proper). Or they dead name them (the act of using someone’s birthname rather than the name they have chosen for themselves). There are various things a family member or friend can do that will cause mental harm to their child/pal. Just like there are various things they can do to help. I’ll be splitting this up into two to keep the two things separate. I am going to write this a bit differently, for the sake of those writing a trans character but also writing with a trans character because I feel it’s very important.

First the bad.

As I said before, deadnaming is a possibility. It can be a very invalidating thing to hear. For me, when I hear someone use my dead name I visibly cringe. It has never felt like my name, and so many people I have met have said I never looked like it fit me. Deadnaming is harmful in that it can make someone question themselves, but also make that voice in their head saying no one will accept them and they should give up all the louder, which can worsen depression and lead to possible suicide.

Improper pronoun use can be linked with the above for all the same reasons. It’s a constant reminder and a constant invalidation. It can make someone feel like you aren’t seeing them. Not the true them. And so they start to feel invisible. Proper pronoun use is important to show someone that you see the them that they see in themselves.

Claiming it is a phase. The person being told this knows better than anyone what they feel. But as mentioned in part two, there is the constant questioning of themselves. So when told this, it’s hard to quiet the voice that is saying we aren’t sure, or that we can’t be because our experience doesn’t match someone else’s.

Calling someone a special snowflake. We already think we’re just trying to get attention, and most times when people question this, it isn’t fake. When you question whether or not you’re doing something for the sake of attention, that shows an awareness and admittance. How many people do you know admit they are doing something for attention? So questioning it is a sure sign that you in fact are not looking for attention. However, when people claim this, it’s hard to prove them wrong. Especially if you’ve been struggling with your gender for only a short period of time.

Denying them as a friend/partner/family member. Making them feel like they aren’t good enough or worthy. The amount of courage this takes is something cis straight people will not get in their life, so to say that you can’t be friends with someone or date them right after they come out is very harmful. I’m not saying people that are dating are forced to stay together, it’s the immediate reaction that would be harmful. A calm talk afterwards is fine and all can be discussed. As far as friendships, if you write your character no longer being friends because of this, congrats, your character is transphobic. As far as family goes, rejecting a child or sibling breaks a level of trust that person could have for any if not all deep rooted relationships. It sets an example that even people that you’ve known since birth can betray you and hate you for being yourself. And that fear and resentment can bleed into other areas of their lives as well.

Using their past identity as punishment. I’ve already gone over the deadnaming, however I have experienced a parent using my dead name as a punishment. If they felt I was speaking out against them, or if I did something they didn’t like, they would use my dead name as a punishment. As a way to cause me pain because they could see how much it bothered me. This is in a way an emotionally violent attack as, for me, it triggered a great deal of dysphoria and trust issues.

I feel those are good key points though certainly not all of them. But for the sake of length I want to move on.

The good:

Unconditional support. When a character comes out, to see unconditional support is the biggest relief. In reality you can see people’s eyes light up. It is always a relief to say that you accomplished facing something truly terrifying and it turned out well.

Proper name and pronoun use. For the exact opposite reasons above. Incredible validation in hearing these used. It also helps to fight away questioning thoughts and anxiety/depression when someone else is using your name and pronouns.Even slip ups where someone corrects themselves is better than ignoring the mistake at all.

Correcting people for them. It’s another way of support, and also proving to us that you have our backs no matter what. Sometimes having to correct someone is embarrassing, and sometimes it can be a hassle, so to see someone else sort of take over for us without speaking over us or outing us on accident is incredible.

Going to the bathroom with them. An odd thing to think about but when you’re faced with the choice and not sure whether you pass enough or not, this can be very validating and helpful. It truly is a terrifying experience. For example, I had one time when using the restroom, I wpas followed in and a man stood outside the one stall waiting, then used the urinal, washed his hands, and got very close to the stall door. All fine and normal, until he washed his hands a second time, and then came close to the door. And then washed his hands a third and stood again. I can’t know for sure what his intent was, but he eventually left the restroom. Meanwhile I had my phone out ready to call my manager (because this was at my place of work) to escort me out of the bathroom.

Again for lengths sake I want to stop this here, but you can get a good idea of what support is and what it isn’t. I will add, for those writing with a trans character, that making their transition about your character is not how you should write out the plot. Their transition affects some people outside of themselves, yes. But it affects them the most.

The last list I want to make is how your character can come out, because there are many ways.

Writing a letter/email

Sitting people down

Recording a video

Hinting with talk of other trans people

Facebook statuses

Phone Calls

Text Messages

Cards

Get creative. If your character is afraid to face the people they are coming out to, think of how they would best want to go about it. Informatively? Creatively? Nervously? Boldly? This is entirely up to who they are as people and their personal values. Where you take their experience past that is entirely your own, but again I beg that you do so as a backstory and not write this out through a thread if it involves any sort of abuse.

Prompt Version

Before coming to terms, or truly understanding gender as a non-binary and fluid concept, I was constantly flipping back and forth between sexuality labels. More specifically, there was a desperate need to explain something that I felt was perfectly normal.

An attraction to girls, in my head, was never questioned when I was a child. I didn’t start to think it was wrong until I was around ten, but even then it was confusing. So when writing a transgender character keep in mind that most children have a better concept of themselves before society forces standards of normality on to them. Most kids know what they like, and they don’t question it; AFAB (assigned female at birth) children may like stereotypically masculine things, and AMAB (assigned male at birth) may enjoy more feminine things. Keep in mind that these are not for sure signs that someone is transgender, however they could be, what’s important to take notice is the dialogue behind the actions.

As an example, I grew up very flat chested and when my sister explained to me that I was going to get breasts, I had an absolute meltdown. I am aware that there are some cis females that this happened to as a child, however my exact words were ‘but I’m not supposed to have those’. Despite a clear understanding of sex and me being classified as female, it never clicked that that meant I wasn’t male. All it meant to me was that I was called she and her.

There are plenty of trans people saying that there were ‘signs’ and comfortability in certain clothing seems to be very common. I think what gets talked over in this, however, are those that weren’t uncomfortable in dresses, but moreso hated that it made people view them as more feminine.

This ties into your characters dysphoria, which will have its own long post, and how that manifests in them. I dont want to dwell to long for the sake of length, but for right now your focus should be on how your character experienced dysphoria before they understood what it meant. What made it spike? How did they cope? Would they throw tantrums? Things of that nature. For me, you can find it in how i never smiled in photos of me wearing a dress or what is seen as feminine clothing. And the way I would describe how I felt in those clothes.

I remember growing up and being forced into certain clothes and the only way I could describe the way I was feeling in them was ‘itchy’. What I now know is that by ‘itchy’ I meant ‘my skin is literally crawling please take this off of me right now’. However this was rarely with dresses and more with turtlenecks. Dresses bothered me because I couldn’t play tag in them as easily, and I was constantly being scolded to sit with my knees close together. I hated that, I liked to be comfortable and sprawled out. The overall point is that everyone’s experience with clothing and the ideas of what is feminine and what isn’t are different. My mother is a tomboy, and so she felt the same as I did when in dresses, not content but not distraught either. It is also why, according to her, my transition was so difficult for her to understand. Because to her, the way I was explaining things simply sounded like I was a ‘tomboy’. It’s taken months for her to understand the differences to being ‘societal boyish’ and actually a trans male.

Another thing often seen is children screaming they are a boy/girl from a young age, for me this never happened. Society accepting girls to act more boyish was always okay, and so I got to wear shorts and pants as I got older and could dress myself. So, for your character, you could decide which route you’d like to take, the route of knowing for sure at a young age, or having mostly no idea and only learning as they grew older. For me I didn’t know I was trans until I was twenty four, others didn’t until well into their adulthood, and some figure it out in their teens. This is entirely up to each individual's experience, however like I said before this is based off of mine.

There’s a specific moment I remember when I was in my very early teens when I googled ‘I wish I was a boy but I’m not transgender’. At the time it felt so silly but I was so desperate because that was all I wanted. I was miserable. I hated everything about how I looked and I remember looking at men on tv and non stop thinking how badly I wanted to look like them. It’s easy to look back now and think ‘holy crap how dumb am I’ but at the time I was so accepted as a tomboy that I just thought that was why I felt this way. Which brings me to the next point in writing a trans character: Most of the time, wishing to be a boy, is all that matters. And what I mean is that there is so much talk about ‘knowing’ you’re a boy but so little on ‘wishing’ it. And sometimes that’s all there is in someone. For me that’s all there was. I only wished, I didn’t know because I didn’t know I could be. The lack of conversation regarding transgender and gender identities hinders a lot of trans people in finding their true selves (and I say this based of the many trans youtubers I’ve watched).

It’s something I’ve actually seen very common when watching trans youtubers that came out later in their lives (mid teens to early twenties). There was a wish to be but never the knowledge that they could be. It seems confusing and obvious, but when you’re in the position and there isn’t much rhetoric surrounding being transgender, and even less representation, it makes the identity and possibilities seem all the smaller.

So I would keep all of this in mind when writing the backstory for your character, or if they are finding themselves later in life and you are in the middle of developing it, keep it in mind how confusing it is to be unsure and how limited the resources are if you’re not sure what to look for. There was no guidebook when I was growing up, and I was always with the understanding that because I didn’t know 100% that I was transgender (the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind and seemed like such an impossibility that I refused to even label myself as such when searching for help), I simply couldn’t possibly be that.

The other thing that I would like everyone to keep in mind, that I intend to touch on in another part of these guides, is how confusing sexual identities further confuses what your gender identity is. Because of my attraction to girls growing up, I labelled myself as a lesbian, however when thinking about my future there was always a male father figure/husband figure in mind. And I could never quite figure out why that was. Now I know that the male image I had in my head that wouldn’t go away was me.

In short, my belief is everyone in life knows who their true selves are, it’s only after society pushes norms on us that we have to navigate and find ourselves again. In Plato’s The Symposium there’s a quote that says “According to Greek Mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs, and a head with two faces. Fearing their power Zeus split them in two separate beings, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves.” I’m sure that my own take is not at all what is intended, but I do take something away from this different than the soulmate theories. I feel that this quote shows how our souls, who we are as people, have been split in two, and when young we are whole, we are our true selves. I believe Zeus is a symbol of society, and the thunderbolt the harsh realities we are forced to face that rip us away from who we truly are. And it is our goal in life to find our other halves that we have been split apart from; navigating life so that we can feel whole once more.

Prompt Version:

How did your character experience dysphoria?

What caused their dysphoria to spike? Was it a situation or something physical or social?

How did they cope with their dysphoria? Did they cope at all?

Growing up not understanding or not knowing what all it means to be trans - or the possibility of even identifying as trans (see part one), meant a lot of confusion where labels were concerned. Flip-flopping, never quite settling in, never finding that one label that felt like home. In my case, I jumped back and forth between lesbian and bisexual and eventually pansexual. There was so much jumping, however, because I was so incredibly attracted to girls, that I thought for sure I was a lesbian. The problem laid in the fact that the representation on tv was that this is painful, and that it shouldn’t feel natural to me. That I should be struggling with my gender identity if I really were trans. However I was quite the opposite. I’d always liked girls, it was only when I realized that other people didn’t find this normal that I began to go through ‘gay panic’. 

So when writing your character, and building their backstory or simply just developing them, try and keep the questioning in mind, as well as what representation they were exposed to. Ask yourself what they felt when they were attracted to whatever sex they felt attracted to. And if you want to use the experience I shared, then start asking when your character realized that it wasn’t normal? What event brought them to that? Was it an action or someone’s words? They seem like such small details, but these small things made such a huge impact on my experience. It was because of the actions and words of others, and the specific things that they said, that made me so afraid of sexuality and afraid to label myself. Which begs the next question; does your character even care?

If, like me, they cared a lot due to bullying, then what actions did they take to try and hide and ignore those feelings?

My experience was to shove away any emotions. I stopped being friends with those I felt attracted to, any gay jokes were met with confusion and internal panic on if someone had figured it out. And it led to so much misery because in my world this was the most natural thing in the world. I didn’t understand why I felt this sudden need to hide it, or hate it even. But as time went on it felt less scary, I lived in places where it was more socially accepted and was free to ask friends their experiences on their sexual orientations. So, again, ask yourself what your characters gone through. If they had friends that were openly gay, if they had self-hatred, if they felt agony over it or if it was something they didn’t think much on. As far as the experience goes it’s any man’s game. Just make sure that your character’s history matches who they wind up being in the future. You can’t simply say they always hated being a girl/boy. Not without what it was about being seen as that gender that made them so upset. And you can’t magically have them okay with it and have no backstory or journey. Not without having a boring and bland character. The best parts of world building are the parts that you get to make because you have to put yourself so thoroughly in someone else’s shoes and maneuver a life you haven’t led, using resources you can hold through a second hand experience. It’s the ultimate puzzle.

When I began to identify as bisexual, I noticed it was more because I could look at men and say ‘they’re attractive to me. I want that.’ What I couldn’t say was that I wanted to have sex with a man, or even romantically be with them (at that time). I only wanted what they had, and because I wanted it so badly, I would date men. I’ve dated about 10 men total in my life, I’ve only loved one of them. It’s a tricky path to maneuver, because gender identity and sexual orientation are two separate things, and yet they are somehow so close to each other. So close that sometimes even I get mixed up and lost.

Because this is focusing mostly on gender identity I don’t want to speak too much on the sexuality aspect, however I will say that confusing the two is something that happens, I feel, in most trans people’s minds. There is so little education out there, and like part one said, resources are scarce if you don’t know what you’re looking for. So having a character firm in their gender but lost in their sexuality is fine, even if you as the mun are yourself. Another fun part of writing is letting your muse guide you where inspiration hits. If you’re not sure what your character’s orientation would be, add that to the bio, create that history, put your confusion inside of your character, and don’t stop educating yourself on the different labels and identities there are.

To this day I’m still somewhat lost on my sexual preference, partly because I worry that my attraction to men is still just envy over them being cis and having what I want, and partly because I don’t think I want to have sex with anyone with how insecure I am about my non cis body. It’s a scary thing to face, but one we all need to go through (those of us that don’t fall under the ace spectrum).

I tend to say I am pansexual, because I’m of the belief that I would date someone based off of who they are as a person, rather than gender or sex. As far as your character goes, ask what their values are in a partner. Ask them the questions on what they are attracted to, and then why they are attracted to those things. And then ask why again. What is it about the aspects of their attraction that make them attracted? The best advice I can give is to explore your character to the very depth, because that is what transgender people do all the time. We are constantly questioning why. Why do we think we’re trans? How do we know we’re not looking for attention? What if it really is just a phase? What makes us think that we’re not just unhappy with how our body looks? Are we just trying to be ‘special snowflakes’? And the questioning doesn’t stop one starting hormone therapy. At least for me it hasn’t. Because I can look back on when I identified as female with great fondness. I have amazing memories of myself and my friends, I even find myself grieving some of the femininity that I lost through transition. Not because I regret transitioning (I’ve never been happier in all honesty) but because in a way it’s like saying goodbye to the part of you that stayed strong when the world felt impossible. The person you were forced to be was miserable, but they were also strong, and I take pride in how I managed to survive to see this day, and I owe it to that half of me, my feminine side for staying strong and figuring out the world.

So far you should know your character’s experiences as a child and growing up with signs of being gender non conforming, how they coped and lived with it, whether or not the signs were clear when they were very young, a teenager, or in their twenties or older. You should also know what made them the person they are today in regards to finding their identity. The struggles they faced early on and how they overcame or are currently dealing with them. And now you should know what identities they used to try and figure out their sexuality, as well as if they used those identities to hide or try and understand their gender identity.

Prompt Version:

What did your character feel when attracted to the sex they were attracted to?

When did your character realize that said attraction wasn’t deemed as normal (if they were attracted to the same sex)?

What event brought them to realize it wasn’t seen as normal (if they were attracted to the same sex)?

Did they take actions to try and hide or ignore the way they felt?

What has your character gone through at this point? Did they talk to friends about their identitiy, whether gender or sexual?

What values does your character have in a partner?

What are they attracted to about the sex they are interested in?

Why are they attracted to those things?

{ basic information }

School education { primary and secondary education } is compulsory between the ages of six and sixteen in Australia. The education system is separated into stages often referred to as; early education, primary education, secondary education and tertiary.

Only primary and secondary education is compulsory in all states, in some states early education is compulsory and tertiary education is elective in all states.

Some children are homeschooled legally, especially in rural and bushland areas.

{ breakdown of the school year } primary&secondary

The school year in Australia begins at the very end of January or early February and is split into two halves, each called Semesters, then spilt again into four sections, each called 'Terms.' Term One & Two are in First Semester, and Term Three & Four are in Second Semester. The dates for each term can differ from school to school and state to state, Catholic/Private schools often have different dates to public schools.

         { first semester } Term One;; will usually last from February to April. Term One Break;; is usually two weeks in April or two weeks immediately following the end of term one. Term Two;; is usually April to July Term Two Break/Mid-Year Break;; usually lasts for two weeks in July or two weeks immediately following the end of term two.

         { second semester } Term Three;; is from July to September Term Three Break;; is two weeks from September to October, or the two weeks immediately following the end of Term Three. Term Four;; is usually October to mid-December Term Four/End of Year Break;; beginning in mid-December and spanning until the end of January the following year.

{ early education } A G E S 4-6 (Q L D 3-4)

Often parents put their children in kingdergarden (when they are four) or prep (five-six). Kindergarden is something to help build up child's social and intellectual skills at a younger age. Kindergarden usually lasts for one year, and takes children from four to five. Early education isn't compulsory in all states, rather an elective for parents.

{ primary school } A G E S 6-12/13

The second stage of schooling refers to primary school or primary education, it is the first stage of schooling that is compulsory. It is dependent on what state you live in how old you are when you begin official primary education;; 

     Victoria (VIC) & Australian Capitol Territory (ACT); Children must be five by 30 April to begin the school year, all children must be enrolled in official schooling by the year they turn six.

     New South Wales (NSW);  Children can begin compulsory Kindergarten/Prep at the beginning of the school year if they turn five on or before 31 July in that year. By law, all children must be enrolled in official schooling by the time they turn six.

     Northern Territory (NT);  Like other states, school is compulsory from the age of six. Children can enter non-compulsory transitional year (prep/kingergarden) at the start of the school year if they turn five by 30 June that year. To enter Grade 1 (compulsory) children must turn six before 30 June in the year they are enrolled.

     Queensland (QLD);  This state also offers a year of Prep for children who turn five by 30 June in the year they are enrolled. Prep is not compulsory, and  compulsory schooling begins with Grade 1 where children must be enrolled in the year they will turn six by 30 June.

     South Australia (SA);  Children must enroll at school by six years, like other states. Keeping in mind that from 2014, all children will start school on the first day of term one in that year so that every child will have four complete terms of school.

   If you/your child:      Turns five before 1 May they will start school on the first day of term one of that year      Turns five on or after 1 May, they will start school on the first day of term one beginning the next year.

     Tasmania (TAS); Children must be five by 1 January to be enrolled in prep, the first year of school official schooling in Tasmania. You may enrol your child in the non-compulsory Kindergarten, but only if your child turns four on or before 1 January of that year.

     Western Australia (WA); Schooling is compulsory from the beginning of the year a child turns six years and six months of age. Children must be five by 30 June in the same year to attend the first year of school. It's now compulsory for children in WA to enrol in Kindergarten or early education programs.

              { approximate age in primary school }         Grade/Year 1: 6- to 7-year-olds         Grade/Year 2: 7- to 8-year-olds         Grade/Year 3: 8- to 9-year-olds         Grade/Year 4: 9- to 10-year-olds         Grade/Year 5: 10- to 11-year-olds         Grade/Year 6: 11- to 12-year-olds                      ( this is the end of primary school in VIC, NSW, ACT, TAS and NT )         Grade/Year 7: 12- to 13-year-olds                       (Grade 7 is only in QLD, SA, WA )

{ secondary school } A G E S 12/13 - 16-17

The third stage of schooling is secondary school, sometimes referred to as secondary college and it is the second stage of schooling that is compulsory. If the student turns 17 and decides that they no longer want to continue with schooling, they can legally drop out.

              { approximate age in secondary school }         Year 7: 12- to 13-year-olds                       (First year of secondary school in ACT, NSW, NT, TAS and VIC)         Year 8: 13- to 14- and 15 year-olds         Year 9: 14- to 15-year-olds         Year 10: 15- to 16-year-olds                       (From this year on it is legal for students to drop out of official schooling)

{ secondary school; SSCE } A G E S 16-18

The SSEC years are the last two years of secondary schooling and the most taxing on students. SSEC stands for; Senior Senior Certificate of Education, a broad spectrum term for the certificate you are award upon successful completion of secondary school, the name of the certificate is dependant on what stat you study in;;

        Australian Capital Territory: ACT Year 12 Certificate         New South Wales: Higher School Certificate (HSC) & School Certificate                       (awarded for completing years 9 and 10 in NSW only)         Northern Territory: Northern Territory Certificate of Education (NTCE)         Queensland: Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE)         South Australia: South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE)         Tasmania: Tasmanian Certificate of Education (TCE)         Victoria: Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) & Victorian Certificate of                        Applied Learning (VCAL - for 'hands on' study out of a high                        school environment)          Western Australia: Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE)

In the last two years of secondary school the students will select subjects to study over two years, as opposed to previous years where they studied a subject for only one year. During the first year of SSCE; Year 11, the students will study Units 1 & 2 of their two year long subjects, in the second year of SSCE; Year 12, the students will study Units 2 & 3 of their chosen subjects. At the end of Year 12, students go through an extensive exam period, both internal and external depending on what subjects they have been studying. Music, Dramatic Arts and LOTE (Language Other Than English) subjects are also tested with an oral/performance examination.

When they have completed their exams they receive an overall score called an ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) that evaluates their work and determines which courses they are able to apply for at university. The ATAR ranking system is applied in every state aside from Queensland, where they use Overall Position (OP) system as a way to determine which courses in higher education they are eligible for.               { approximate age for SSCE students }         Year 11: 16- to 17-year-olds                       (The students will be studying Units 1&2 of their SSCE subjects)         Year 12: 17- to 18-year-olds                       (The students will be studying Units 3&4 of their SSCE subjects,                            the end of this marks the end of secondary schooling)

{ tertiary education } A G E S 18+

Tertiary education (or higher education) in Australia is primarily studied at university or a technical college in order to receive a qualification or further skills and training. Tertiary education is measured by the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) which determines how long one has to study for to reach their chosen qualification;;              (image from wiki)

T H A T S A L L F O L K S!