SCHOOL-LEAVING AGE

• Children have to stay at school until the age of 16. There is no upper age limit.

ALCOHOL

• You have to be 18 to buy alcohol in a shop or a pub, but if you are 16 and you are having a meal in a pub, you can drink beer or wine with it.

PROSECUTION

• In Scotland, you can be prosecuted for a crime at the age of 8. In England and Wales, the age is 10. You can't be sent to prison until you are 21.

MOTOR VEHICLES

• 16-year-olds can ride a motorbike. At 17 you can ride a car.

SMOKING

• You can smoke cigarettes at any age, but you can't go into a shop and buy them until you are 16.

ARMED FORCES

• Men can join the army at 16, women at 17. If you are under 18, you need your parents' con¬sent.

MARRIAGE

• You can get married at 16 with your parents' consent. Otherwise you have to wait till you are 18.

PAID JOB

• You can take a part-time job at 13, and a full-time job at 16 (i.e. when you've left school).

VOTING

• Anyone aged 18 or over can vote in a general election.

RETIREMENT AGE

• Women can retire on full pension at 60. Men have to wait till they are 65.

ENTERING PARLIAMENT

• The minimum age for becoming a Member of Parliament is 21. The youngest person to become an MP in the 20th century was Bernadette Devlin, who was elected a week before her 22nd birthday.