Eighth grade is a year of primary education in the United States and Canada. Youth in the eighth grade are in their ninth year of formal schooling, having first completed kindergarten followed by seven consecutive grade years. Youth in the eighth grade are usually 13–14 years old.

The eighth grade is significant in the United States and Canada because it used to be the last year of elementary school. For many students, it marked the end of formal education. This is still the case in some Amish communities. Today in the United States the old elementary school-high school division is less used; eighth grade students generally make up the last year at a middle school, which includes the sixth or seventh through eighth grades.

The eighth grade mathematics curriculum in the United States as well as Canada includes either pre-algebra or algebra I. Occasionally geometry is also taught.

International equivalents

Many other countries use numerical levels for primary schooling. The U.S. eighth grade is equivalent to Canadian Grade 8 and German Klasse 8. However it is not equivalent to Year 8 in the United Kingdom school system, which is for students 12–13 years old and is the second year of secondary school.

Educational years