小１, 中２, 高３, 大４ - Abbreviated School Years

In manga and anime, sometimes when characters are introduced by a panel with some text, there's a certain kanji followed by a number that doesn't make much sense. Such kanji are 小, 中, 高 and 大, and the numbers often range from 1 to 3. But what does it mean?!

小中高大

Basically, it's abbreviated way of saying which school year a character attends. The number tells whether the character is an ichinensei, ninensei, sannensei, etc. And the kanji tells the educational stage of the character.

• shou 小
  shougakkou 小学校
• chuu 中
  chuugakkou 中学校
• kou 高
  koukou 高校
• dai 大
  daigaku 大学

List of Abbreviations

For reference, the full list:

Shou 小

shou ichi 小１ means

shougakkou ichinen 小学校１年
Ages 6–7. First year elementary school.

shou ni 小２ means
shougakkou ninen 小学校２年
Ages 7–8. Second year elementary school.

shou san 小３ means
shougakkou sannen 小学校３年
Ages 8–9. Third year elementary school.

shou yon 小４ means
shougakkou yonnen 小学校４年
Ages 9–10. Fourth year elementary school.

shou go 小５ means
shougakkou gonen 小学校５年
Ages 10–11. Fifth year elementary school.

shou roku 小６ means
shougakkou rokuen 小学校６年
Ages 11–12. Sixth year elementary school.

Chuu 中

chuu ichi 中１ means
chuugaku ichinen 中学１年
Ages 12–13. First year middle school.

chuu ni 中２ means
chuugaku ninen 中学２年
Ages 13–14. Second year middle school.

chuu san 中３ means
chuugaku sannen 中学３年
Ages 14–15. Third year middle school.

Kou 高

kou ichi 高１ means
koukou ichinen 高校１年
Ages 15–16. First year high school.

kou ni 高２ means
koukou ninen 高校２年
Ages 16–17. Second year middle school.

kou san 高３ means
koukou sannen 高校３年
Ages 17–18. Third year middle school.

Dai 大

dai ichi 大１ means
daigaku ichinen 大学１年
Ages 18–19. First year college or university.

dai ni 大２ means
daigaku ninen 大学２年
Ages 19–20. Second year college or university.

dai san 大３ means
daigaku sannen 大学３年
Ages 20–21. Third year college or university.

dai yon 大４ means
daigaku yonnen 大学４年
Ages 21–22. Fouth year college or university.

dai go 大５ means
daigaku gonen 大学５年
Ages 22–23. Fifth year college or university.

dai roku 大６ means
daigaku rokunen 大学６年
Ages 23–24. Sixth year college or university.