School Captain

School Captain is a student appointed or elected to represent the school.

This student, usually in the senior year, (Year 12, in secondary and Year 6 in primary schools) in their final year of attending that school. It is similar to "Student Body President" in the United States, it is the senior representative of a school's pupils, and the school, in the community.

School captains are mainly found in British Empire legacy school systems: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Zimbabwe for example Bernard Mizeki College in Zimbabwe still appoints school captains as representative of the students body. The School captain is chosen from the Lower Sixth formers by ballot, students vote in their respective hostels which are considered as constituencies and staff members also cast their votes. After election the Incumbent officially hands over his duties to the elected school captain on first day of October three to four weeks before public examinations start to enable the outgoing school captain to concentrate on his school work. etc. It is not, however, usually used in the United Kingdom itself.

In some schools, the staff appoints the captain while in others an extensive interview process is involved but generally the positions are filled by election. Some elections involve the student body, some the faculty staff, and some both. Often there is some pre-selection of candidates by the school executive.

To be elected as school captain is a high honor, and the student who fills the position usually has earned particular distinction among the student body as well as among the staff. They are usually a student that has achieved a higher degree of commitment, dedication, experience, and knowledge above that of the average student. In some schools the captain is the head prefect. However, the Head Girl and Head Boy and the school captain can both exist within the same school, and where hierarchy determines that the head boy/girl is ranked higher than the school.

The school captain can act as a liaison between the students at large and the faculty staff, and between the school and the community. If a student gets into trouble, it can reflect badly upon the captain.