Kaze Progressa

Kaze Progressa

Flag of Kaze Progressa
Motto: "K for Kaze! Let K Progress!"
National Anthem: not available yet
No Map Available Yet
Region	FIFA
Capital	Kaza
Official Language(s)	English
Leader	Alinae Warb
Population	>4 billion
Currency	kak (K) (K1 = c. $2)
NS Sunset XML

The Sports Mad Community of Kaze Progressa are a nation of over three billion people, with a near-universal collective interest in sports of all kinds. It is also renowned for its strong eco-friendly policies which have not had a significant negative impact on economic growth.

Geography

Kaze Progressa is located in the northern part of the FIFA region, bordering land to the west once belonging to The Belmore Family before their move to the Alliance of Socialist States. The country spreads east-west across three distinct time zones, known as (from west to east) Farela, Kaza and Quarua time zones after the country's three principal cities. The north-south spread is roughly equivalent to the east-west spread, but narrows to the east with the land to the south-east of Kaze Progressa being part of Dance 2 Revolution.

The country's topography is dominated by rolling hills, with most of the major cities built on plateaus or valleys. There are some isolated high mountains, mostly near the border with Dance 2 Revolution and in the Jauranian region which has briefly attained independence and remains the only area in the country with a Regional Parliament.

Politics

Kaze Progressa operates a bicameral system of government, with each chamber holding relatively equal powers. The two houses are known as the National House and the Local House, collectively called Parliament Progressa. The National House contains 100 MPs elected by proportional representation, with parties allocated seats directly based on the proportion of the popular vote; the Local House contains 500 MPs elected by the single transferable vote system, with 100 five-member constituencies divided into West and East Wings. National House MPs serve a five-year term; Local House MPs serve a six year term, with elections in either wing alternating every three years. All elections take place on the seventeenth Thursday of the year, usually in late April. In addition, the major cities in the country have elected mayors, which serve four-year terms.

To reduce disputes between the chambers, votes are taken in both, with the combined tally used (with the National House votes multiplied by three to offset the numerical differences while ensuring that the Local House is the more powerful, as the National House creates draft legislation). While the political system is ostensibly based around parties, in practice the conscience of individual MPs (which, of course, largely dictate their party choices in any case) rules, as the use of PR, the multi-party system and the total absence of whips in either House mean that there is no such thing as a dominant government in Kaze Progressa.

The passage of Draft Laws (written by the National House) into Official Laws is a three-stage process; several variations - usually four or five - of the Draft Law are written; MPs vote for their preferred choice, using the supplementary vote system (giving a first and second preference; all the top two variants on first-preference votes are eliminated and the second-preference votes reallocated as appropriate to produce an overall winner); a simple yes/no vote then takes place on whether to approve the preferred version. Both votes can take place consecutively within twenty minutes, as votes are taken through electronic keypads by the seat of each MP.

The country's 'President' is largely a figurehead, as reflected by his (or her - Alinae Warb has recently become the first female to take the role) title 'Global Representative for Kaze Progressa' (usually shortened to 'Global Representative') and his main roles are as a spokesperson for the country in global affairs. As Kaze Progressa is not part of the United Nations, this role is even more limited. The Global Representative serves four-year terms, and elections take place the year before the mayoral elections. A maximum of two terms can be won.

Political parties

National Democrats

One of the three traditional powers in national politics and presently the most powerful party overall, albeit marginally. Their support is fairly evenly spread, with concentrations traditionally in the south-west and the coastal south-east.

They fall close to the centre ground in a somewhat left-leaning nation notable for its government intervention. They are the only major party that have proposed significant moves towards capitalism, and their influence has helped reduce the total tax burden to around 60% (it was briefly 100% in a period of Liberal and Industria dominance). They do, however, still support nationalised industry, while emphasising the need for an internal market to ensure greater efficiency. They also contain a moralistic, conservative element, and some members support an increase in the age of consent to 19, in line with the demands of the Morality Party. Others in the party are more liberal, however. The party largely sticks together on economic policy, with the divergence on social policy accepted within the party: 'Social policy is an utterly subjective idea and to hold a strict party line on it would be insane,' said the party leader Bavu Gajinrak as his party took the most seats in the National House at the last election (a position they have since lost).

Liberal Party

Another of the traditional powers, and the second most powerful party at present - their weak position in the Local House cancelled out by being comfortably the largest party in the National House. Their support is evenly spread around the country, with concentrations mainly in large cities without significant industry, critically including the two largest cities in the country - Quarua and Kaza.

As their name suggests, the party hold a libertarian line and oppose 'nanny state' legislation of all kinds. Their opposition was critical to overturning plans for biometric passports and an increase in the age of consent. The party holds a united line on social policy but is split on economic policy. Some suggest that government influence should be reduced in all areas, including the economy; others say the government must ensure equality in order to give everyone an equal chance at success.

Industria Party

The third of the traditional major parties in the country, the Industria Party has the most concentrated support of the main parties, centred in the western Silicon Belt including Nortenai and Minita as well as 'older industrial' cities like Waree-Mashru. It is usually the lesser of the three main parties in National House votes but usually holds a strong position in the Local House. At present, it is the third most powerful party across both Houses, only marginally behind the Liberals and the National Democrats.

They are a firmly socialist party believing in economic fairness, nationalised industry with a focus on social benefits and a removal of capitalist influence. They have provided vast improvement projects for cities run by their mayors, including huge libraries in Waree-Mashru and Nortenai.

Green Party

Presently the fourth most powerful party in the country. the Greens live up to their name and are fiercely protective of the environment. They oppose capitalism even more fiercely than Industria, and believe that general industrial output should be reduced. Their support usually comes from the rural areas and, increasingly, from liberal-minded cities such as Quarua.

Morality Party

The fifth-strongest party in the country at present, the Morality Party are the most conservative party in the country and their policies include an increase in the age of consent to 19, a reduction in benefits to ensure 'scrounging will not pay' and compulsory teaching of Ethics, which would include more religious content. Their support is concentrated in a few areas such as the rural areas in the east.

Farmers Party

A single-issue party campaigning for farmers' rights and agricultural subsidies, they hold a small amount of power in each House.

Other parties

The CommuniZt Party stand at every election but were insignificant until recently; Independents occasionally stand in the Local House, but rarely win seats.

Present party divide in Parliament Progressa

Seats in National House

• Liberal: 34
• National Democrats: 23
• Industria: 22
• Green: 11
• Morality: 8
• Farmers: 1
• CommuniZt: 1

====Seats in Local House==== (the value before the slash denotes the West Wing, the value after it the East Wing)

• National Democrats: 84/46
• Industria: 47/72
• Liberal: 44/49
• Green: 31/40
• Morality: 35/30
• Farmers: 5/7
• CommuniZt: 4/4
• Independents: 0/2

====Resultant Overall Voting Power==== [note: this assumes that all vote on party lines. In practice, due to the lack of whips, this is a highly unrealistic assumption.]

• National Democrats: 199 votes (24.9%)
• Liberal: 195 votes (24.4%)
• Industria: 185 votes (23.1%)
• Green: 104 votes (13.0%)
• Morality: 89 votes (11.1%)
• Farmers: 15 votes (1.9%)
• CommuniZt: 11 votes (1.4%)
• Independents: 2 votes (0.3%)

Global Representative Votes

• Alinie Warb 298,521,782
• Mert Worlia 257,993,036
• Jaulinta Garisu 191,445,772
• Zazta Canduda 175,567,853
• Kata Ijyu 167,377,389
• Jaruna Yitazi 161,069,966
• Quaza Tantaboz 132,248,890
• Inato Bariltok 13,450,252

Economy

Kaze Progressa operates a unique economic structure, which the Economics Professor at Farela University dubs 'state-run eco-capitalism'. Direct tax is average, strongly progressive and funds the various governmental departments, mostly holding self-explanatory titles such as Arts Progressa, Sport Progressa, Jobs Progressa, Learn Progressa and Stats Progressa. Many of these departments are still based in Kaza, but since Stats Progressa moved to Ugiata to save costs, several other minor departments have moved out of Kaza, usually to Ugiata or Eztaf.

The rest of the economy is run by a series of large nationalised companies, often several differentiated in each field if a natural monopoly does not exist. These companies are directly run by the Government as this was seen as more cost-effective than large-scale regulation to prevent environmental damage - which may, in any case, have been ignored. Bizarrely, some of these companies advertise against each other; the country hence appears, to some foreign visitors, to be a capitalist state. Looking closer, however, a peculiarly Progressan trait emerges; almost all advertising is informative, not persuasive.

The country is one of the very few economically prosperous nations that has banned cars. A gargantuan rail network, run by the nationalised monopoly K-Train, spreads to all parts of the country and it is estimated that less than 1% of the population are less than 1.5km from a railway station. Some major lines between, and especially within, cities have two levels, and a three-tier link between the centre of Kaza and the Sports City complex was built for World Cup 17, with either direction served by 40 trains an hour. All factories have railway links, and goods are generally carried by special carriers from a railway station to the destination.

The Progressan GDP as of RL dateline November 27 2004 was $24,922.24 per capita, as measured using Commerce Heights definitions.

Sports

Kaze Progressa is, of course, a nation reknowned for its love of sport. The national sport - if the country could be said to have only one - is football (soccer, as it is also called). Such is the popularity of the sport that there are more than a dozen stadia in the country with over 80,000 seats (some of which are also used for athletics), most of which sell out every home game. Despite this huge support, the Progressans have traditionally struggled in the World Cup, with perennial group-stage elimination almost an established fact of life. They had never won a knockout match in the competition before World Cup 18, in which they made the final against the expectations of many, not least in Kaze Progressa itself, before losing 4-3 to Rejistania.

It is perhaps no surprise that attention has focused on the domestic scene, which is almost dramatic enough for the World Cup to be ignored. This extends even more to other popular sports, which include but are not limited to athletics, American football (usually called 'gridiron' by Progressans), basketball, swimming, field hockey, cricket (the country was a founding member of the INSCC), handball and gymnastics. The education system has a heavy sport quotient and all students are exposed to numerous sports; as a result, gender biases that seem to be evident in certain sports have a basis in biology, not sociology, as everyone interested in sport will have the opportunity to pick the one in which they are best.

Domestic Sports

Football/soccer

KPFA League

The KPFA League (formerly sponsored by the nationalised airline Progressair) is the national football league. It comprises of three divisions - a 14-team Premier Division, a 16-team First Division and a 16-team Second Division. The top team in the First and Second Divisions gain promotion, and the bottom team in the Premier and First Divisions are relegated. There are also four playoff matches, played over two legs with the winner playing in the higher league in the following season, between:

• 13th in the Premier Division and 2nd in the First Division
• 12th in the Premier Division and 3rd in the First Division
• 15th in the First Division and 2nd in the Second Division
• 14th in the First Division and 3rd in the Second Division

The bottom two teams in the Second Division are relegated to the K-Train Regional Leagues. This is a complex system divided between Western and Eastern Divisions, with the winners in each division gaining promotion to the Second Division. Many sub-divisions of each exist, all falling under the banner of the K-Train Regional Leagues (all teams registered with the Kaze Progressa Football Association, or KPFA, enter these leagues first).

The league season starts on the fourth Saturday in August, and ends on the fourth Saturday in April. The first leg of the playoffs occur on the first Wednesday in August and the second leg is on the following Sunday.

KPFA Cup

The KPFA Cup is the national knockout cup in football. This usually includes several hundred teams in qualification, the invariably complex structure of which is edited to suit the number of entrants. However, from the first round onwards follows the same pattern every year:

• first round - 48 teams from the K-Train Regional Leagues; some teams auto-qualify for this stage dependent on the qualifying structure. Hence 24 matches.
• second round - the 24 first-round winners are joined by the 16 Second Division teams, thus 40 teams and hence 20 matches.
• third round - the 20 second-round winners are joined by the 16 First Division teams, thus 36 teams and hence 18 matches.
• fourth round - the 18 third-round winners are joined by the 14 Premier Division teams, thus 32 teams and hence 16 matches. Beyond this stage a straight knockout applies. By tradition, all matches in this round take place on January 1.

The final always takes place in the Progressair Stadium on the first Saturday in May. All matches must be played to a conclusion with extra-time and penalties if so required.

Battle 1 Shield

The winner of the KPFA Cup and the winner of the Progressair League Premier Division play each other in the Battle 1 Shield on the second Sunday in August (thirteen days before the league season commences). The match is always held in the Progressair Stadium and is played to a conclusion with extra-time and penalties if so required.

Notable Progressan teams

The best-known and most successful side is Kaza X-Teem, who have won the league title 27 times. The next most successful, Quarua Lakeside, have 20 titles to their name, and are best known for producing the country's best-known sportsman, Faiwe Irafma - who remains the top Progressan goalscorer of all time for club and country. Other notable teams include Chedar-Edma - reknowned for their youth policy - Farela City, Paninara Kick and Islanders.

In the inaugural season of the KPFA League, it was Farela City who won the Premier Division by five points from Kaza X-Teem.

Basketball

The country's basketball league, B-Ball League National, comprises 30 teams, ten in each time zone. Each team in each time zone play each other home and away twice (36 games per team).

League Decision

The bottom two teams in each zone then face the top two teams in the requisite League Regional division (West, Central or East), again playing each other home and away twice (6 games per team), in the so-called League Decision. The top two teams in the League Decision earn the right to play in the League National the following season, while the bottom two must play in the League Regional. Hence between zero and two teams can be promoted/relegated in any region (and hence between zero and six - usually two or three - across the nation).

Playoffs

The top four teams in each zone automatically qualify for the playoffs. The next two teams in each zone play each other home and away twice (10 games per team) in the Pre-Playoffs, which occur at the same time as the League Decision. The top four teams in the Pre-Playoffs join the twelve automatic qualifiers and enter the Playoffs, which take place as a straight knockout with a random (as opposed to seeded) draw, and are played as four-legged ties - each team playing twice at home and twice away, with the aggregate score determining the winner.

Cricket

There are three separate competitions in Progressan cricket, falling under the umbrella of Progressa National Cricket: Cup 20, League 50 and League Infinity. League Infinity matches are four-day, two-inning, unlimited-overs matches. Cup 20 is a 20-overs-a-side cup competition. League 50 is a league with 50-overs-a-side matches.

Originally the two leagues in the Progressa National Cricket umbrella consisted of three ten-team divisions, but this has been shrunk to one following a reorganisation after the Progressan Civil War, and Cup 20 is competed solely between these ten teams too (with two groups of five, with the top two progressing to the semi-finals).

For more information see the article on Progressa National Cricket.

Field Hockey

While Progressan domestic leagues can be very complex (for instance, in basketball), the Progressa Field Hockey League comprises simply of four leagues of 16 - entitled simply Leagues One, Two, Three and Four - that play each other on a home and away basis, with three-up, three-down relegation. No teams can be relegated from League Four.

Ice Hockey

By contrast, the Ice Hockey National League has a relatively complex structure, caused - as with the B-Ball League - by regional divisions: six teams in each time zone that play each other home and away twice (20 games each team), with the top two advancing to the playoffs.

Wild Card League

The Wild Card League determines the final two teams in the eight-team playoffs and comprises the teams placed third and fourth in their zone, this time playing each other home and away only once (5 games each team) with the top two in this league completing the eight-team playoffs.

Playoffs

These playoffs take place as best-of-five series, alternating home and away, with the exception of the final; all five matches in the final take place in the Indoor International Arena, Kaza.

There is no promotion or relegation.

Gridiron

The league structure for the Progressan League of Gridiron is divided into two regions identical to the West and East Wings of the Local House, rather than the three time zones. Each region has fourteen teams playing each other home and away (26 games per team), with the top eight entering the playoffs. Matches take place every Tuesday night. The regular season starts on the Tuesday fifteen weeks before the last Tuesday of the year; the last two weeks of the year are bye weeks; the remaining matches take place on the first thirteen Tuesdays of the year.

Playoffs

The playoffs have a seeded draw (1v8, 4v5, 3v6, 2v7) but with the two regions mixed. So - for instance - 3rd in the West Region could face 6th in the East Region, and by implication vice versa. A random draw (which takes place the day after the end of the regular season, i.e. on the thirteenth Wednesday of the year) determines which, if any, 'mixed pairings' exist. It is political folklore in Kaze Progressa that if four 'mixed pairings' are drawn in the year of a party-based (i.e. Local House, National House or mayoral) election, there will be a change in the most-represented party, and if there are no 'mixed pairings' there will be no such change. In each of the seven years in the last fifty where either of these has occurred, the prediction came true, most recently in the last series of mayoral elections, four mixed pairings predicting the National Democrats producing the most mayors in these elections (a distinction previously held by the Liberals).

The playoffs start on the second Tuesday in April with one round every week. The final - the K-Bowl - is held back until the third Tuesday in May, and takes place at the Progressair Stadium.

Handball

The Progressa Handball League comprises two divisions of 18 teams, Divisions 1 and 2. The top two in Division 2 are promoted, the bottom two in Division 1 relegated; in addition 16th in Division 1 plays 3rd in Division 2 on a home and away basis with the aggregate winner playing Division 1 handball in the next season.

Baseball

The Progressan League of Baseball comprises of two divisions of 16 teams playing each other home and away twice, with three-up, three-down promotion and relegation. There is also a Progressan Cup of Baseball, a two-legged knockout involving all 32 teams in the League's two divisions (A and B); Cup games occur back-to-back after six league games, and the two-legged Cup final takes place immediately after the end of the season. All games occur every other day, regardless of which day this is, and there are two short seasons every year: the Spring season runs from February 20 to May 11, and the Autumn season from September 1 to November 19.

Designated hitters are used in all Progressan baseball.

Athletics

Athletics is not traditionally known for its league-type competitions, but there is an annual sixteen-event cycle (six indoor events, ten outdoor events) involving the top athletes in the country in each discipline. These work very similarly to the Formula One World Championship, with points awarded for the top eight in each event. Outdoor athletics venues are often shared with football teams, but this is of no difficulty owing to the relatively short length of the Progressan football season.

The outdoor athletics season runs from May to August, and the indoor season from November to March. There are also marathons in each of the 24 biggest cities every year - twelve taking place in March, the other twelve in October - and cross-country running is also popular especially in the winter (the warm Progressan climate is not suited to distance running in the summer)

Rugby

Both Union and League codes are played, and the popularity of each is thinly spread with minor concentrations in Kaza (for Union) and the north-west (for League). Each code has an identical league structure, with three divisions of sixteen teams and two-up, two-down promotion and relegation with an additional playoff match between 14th in the higher division and 3rd in the lower division (as per the KPFA League). In addition the cups in each code are identical, a straight knockout with the top division in each league gaining a bye from the first round.

The Progressans have recently entered the Rugby World Cup and their team for RWC4 can be seen here.

Education

Kaze Progressa operate an innovative education system where education is compulsory until the age of 17, with most continuing until 19, but with relatively few continuing beyond this. The basis of such a system is the Progressa National Diploma, a three-stage qualification incorporating all studies between the ages of 13 and 19.

The school day

The Progressan school day lasts from 7:30am to 1:20pm, with five hour-long lessons in each day, two 20-minute breaks after lessons 2 and 4 and two five-minute moving periods after lessons 1 and 3. (Hence lesson 1 starts at 7:30am, lesson 2 at 8:35am, lesson 3 at 9:55am, lesson 4 at 11am and lesson 5 at 12:20pm.) There is no lesson 5 on Friday, so the school day on Friday ends at midday.

Pre-13 education

Students study a broad and universal curriculum involving the teaching of English, mathematics, PE, science, ICT, history, geography, art, music and drama. The first four of these are taught for three lessons a week, the remainder for two lessons a week. Some schools open until 3:30pm for extra-curricular clubs, usually in music, art, PE or languages (which are not part of the Progressan curriculum).

The Progressa National Diploma

Level One

Level One lasts two years, between the ages of 13 and 15. This is the first stage in the Progressan education system where choice occurs. Students take four compulsory subjects: English, mathematics, PE and ICT. They must also take two Science courses (from Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Additional Mathematics), a humanities course (from Politics, History, Geography and Ethics) and a creative arts course (from Art, Photography, Music, Drama and Dance). There are two subjects that are a free choice from any of the optional courses above, plus a small selection of other courses mostly in design technology (such as textiles and graphic design) and languages (the most popular being Belmorian and Rejistanian). The compulsory subjects are taught for three lessons a week and the remainder for two.

Each course at Level One (and subsequent levels) comprises of three units. Two are examined (at Level One, the fixed exam length is 90 minutes per unit), one at the end of each year. The third is comprised of a project, usually an extended essay or a practical project. Each unit is marked out of 100, based on the proportion of students who gained fewer marks than the student in question (hence if 75% of the students taking that unit gained a lower mark than Student A, then Student A's mark is 75; the median mark would be 50). The marks for all thirty units are combined to give a Level One Score, 0-3000. The Level One Certificate lists marks for each unit, and the subject totals, in a table.

Level Two

Level Two lasts two years, between the ages of 15 and 17.

Students require a Level One score of 1200 or above to follow the Academic Passage - hence just over 60% of each year group do so. These students take six subjects; at least one must be from the four compulsory subjects from Level One, and at least two must be from the grouped options in science, humanities and creative arts as available at Level One. The remaining three subjects are free choice. At this stage, new subjects, especially in the social sciences, are available; all other courses must previously have been taken at Level One. With six subjects, each is taught for four hours a week.

Level Two courses are examined identically to Level One courses, although obviously at a higher level. With only six courses at this stage, the Level Two Score - strictly speaking the Level Two (A) Score, the A denoting the Academic Passage - is in the range 0-1800.

Students with a Level Two score below 1200 follow the Vocational Passage. They specialise in a single vocation, such as construction or plumbing, and take fifteen practical tests and three exams. Like the Academic Passage units, these are marked continuously out of 100, and combined to produce a Level Two (V) score - like the Level Two (A) score, in the range 0-1800.

Whether the Academic or Vocational Passage is followed, a Level Two Certificate similar to the Level One Certificate is produced.

In most cases, education is compulsory up to the age of 17, but there is one exception: sports teams can sign players at 15. (In practice, the sports team legislation also extends to some individual sports, notably gymnastics; specialists in these sports move to specialist training camps.) This age was changed from 13, and a ban on boarding schools run by clubs enforced, due to fears of exploitation of players after unsubstantiated evidence of abuse of several youngsters, including Craita Chesir who joined the Chedar-Edma boarding school at 11 and played for the first team fifteen days short of his fifteenth birthday.

Level Three

Level Three is optional, although nearly three-quarters of Progressans follow this route (two-thirds of whom do not continue education beyond it). It lasts two years between the ages of 17 and 19.

The Academic Passage, which requires a Level Two (A) Score of 700 or more, incorporates four subjects, which can be freely chosen from the six taken at Level Two. (No new courses are added at Level Three.) Each is taught for six hours a week.

At this level, the projects are somewhat longer, and the examinations are lengthened to two hours each. Again, however, each unit is marked out of 100 in the same way, to produce a Level Three (A) score of 0-1200. This is the score used by universities as the basic entry qualification.

Students who do not meet the Level Two (A) Score requirement for Level Three (A) can join the Vocational Passage, Level Three (V). This works in the same way as the Level Two (V) equivalent, except that there are twelve somewhat larger units, nine of which are practical and three of which are examined, and can be taken in a greater variety of fields. The Level Three (V) Score is 0-1200, just like the Level Three (A) score.

Example students

Kristi

Kristi is a talented singer/actress. By the age of 12, she has set her heart on performing, ideally on Jazarai Way in Quarua - the spiritual home of Progressan musical theatre.

At Level One, she takes the four compulsory subjects of English, Mathematics, PE and ICT. She chooses Biology and Physics as her two Science options and History as her Humanities option. She chooses Drama as her Creative Arts option, but uses her two free choices to take Dance and Music as well. [Note: the order here is almost irrelevant. Kristi could just as easily have chosen Dance or Music as her Creative Arts option. The only difference would have been in timetabling.]

She gains the following total marks in these ten subjects:

• English: 284
• Mathematics: 250
• PE: 271
• ICT: 256
• Biology: 263
• Physics: 246
• History: 260
• Drama: 293
• Dance: 287
• Music: 291

LEVEL ONE SCORE: 2701

Progressing to Level Two (A), she chooses English from the four compulsory subjects. While she is compulsed to choose two courses from the sciences, creative arts and humanities combined, unsurprisingly she opts to continue with all of Drama, Dance and Music. Such a combination uses up one of her three free choices; Psychology and Sociology (both new courses at Level Two) fill the other two.

She gains the following total marks in these six subjects:

• English: 247
• Drama: 279
• Dance: 260
• Music: 275
• Psychology: 252
• Sociology: 253

LEVEL TWO (A) SCORE: 1566

Note here that in all the subjects taken at both levels, the Level Two score is lower, with the biggest decline in English. This is entirely normal as the lowest-achieving 40% are moved to the Vocational Passage, and many more drop subjects in favour of those where they are achieving more highly (as Kristi did with subjects such as PE and Mathematics). This trend continues to a lesser extent at Level Three (A).

Progressing to Level Three (A), Kristi has the choice of any four of the six subjects at Level Two. Inevitably Drama, Dance and Music are all chosen; she also opts for Psychology (hoping, no doubt, that an insight into human behaviour will help with acting!). She gains the following total marks:

• Drama: 267
• Dance: 255
• Music: 265
• Psychology: 222

LEVEL THREE (A) SCORE: 1009

This score will get Kristi into most universities. Alternatively, Kristi could enter a Specialist College in drama or musical theatre. With examinations in April, the results released in late June and the university year running from January to November, she will be able to apply to either (on the same application form). In either case, she would have auditions in November.

Mert

Mert is stronger in practical activities than academia. He doesn't know exactly what he wants to do at 13 but does want it to be practical.

At Level One, he chooses Biology and Chemistry as his two Science options, Geography as his Humanities option, Drama as his Creative Arts option, and opts for two Design options - Resistant Materials and Electronics - for his free choices. Obviously these six are accompanied by his four compulsory subjects.

He gains the following overall marks in these subjects:

• English: 67
• Mathematics: 80
• PE: 96
• ICT: 85
• Biology: 77
• Chemistry: 69
• Geography: 70
• Drama: 64
• Resistant Materials: 100
• Electronics: 86

LEVEL ONE SCORE: 794

Forced onto the Vocational Passage for Level Two (though he would in all probability have exercised his right to select it in any case), he determines that his interest is in construction, and follows the 18-unit Level Two (V) course in it. This comprises of a series of separate practical and written tests to produce a Level Two (V) Score, which like the Level Two (A) Score is out of 1800. In his case, he gains 777; he then chooses not to continue at Level Three (V) and instead becomes an apprentice for a national firm specialising in stadium construction.

Universities

There are around 100 universities in Kaze Progressa, plus around 60 specialist post-19 'Specialist Centres' in sport and the creative arts (especially music). Universities make offers on the Level Three (A) score, with demands ranging from 200 to 1100 depending on the university (sometimes a specific score in the subject being studied or similar is demanded); Specialist Centres select by a practical test of some description and/or previous history in the requisite field.

The top universities in the country are Kaza, Quarua, Farela and Ugiata. Of these, Quarua has the best reputation in the arts, especially the creative arts where it challenges the Specialist Centres; Kaza is notable for lacking a clear weakness; Farela is famous for sport, sports science and physics; Ugiata is famous for maths, especially the statistics course which includes a work placement at the Stats Progressa offices located in the city.

International students are relatively rare in Kaze Progressa, mostly confined to the top universities. Likewise, relatively few Progressans study at foreign universities, the majority of those who do going to Rejistania (especially for language study, unpopular in Kaze Progressa), Dance 2 Revolution and The Belmore Family.