School years in England

[annie0000]

Hi all, quick question. My sister's husband has been offered a job in England and they are considering moving. Their daughter is about to turn 11 and I said I thought she would probably start High School in England - she would be going into P7 in Scotland. Anyone know what year she would start in in England?

[dot.haukes]

If she turns 11 before 1st september she''ll be starting year 7 high school, if she is only 11 after september 1st she'll be in year 6 primary.

[annie0000]

Thanks Dot - to confuse matters then, her birthday is 1st September!

[Buenchico]

Children who're 5 years old on the 1st September go into year 1. Then it's sequential from there.

So if the girl will be 11 before the start of the new school year (on 1st September) she'll go into year 7. If she's not had her 11th birthday by then, she'll go into Year 6.

In some areas (where the 'traditional' pattern of education, as created by the 1944 Education Act) still applies, schools are divided into:
Infant (Years 1 & 2)
Junior (Years 3 to 6)
Secondary (Years 7 to 11, or 13 if there's post-compulsory provision)
If the girl moves into one of those areas, she'd go to a secondary school. (Such schools often, but not always, incorporate the word 'high' into their title).

In other parts of England there are middle schools. In most of Sheffield, for example, this system applies:
First (Years 1 to 3)
Middle (Years 4 to 7)
Secondary (Years 8 to 11. Post-compulsory provision is in separate tertiary colleges).

In Suffolk though, this currently applies (even though a return to the 'traditional' system is planned):
First (Years 1 to 4)
Middle (Years 5 to 8)
Secondary (Years 9 to 11/13)

So there are some parts of the country where an 11 year old girl would have to wait one or two years before joining a secondary school.

[annie0000]

very thorough thanks Chris - it is Exeter that they may be going to, but the website was not very helpful :o(. I don't think they are fussed either way, though I think it may be easier to start a new school when everyone is basically new together rather than starting in a class of kids that have been together for 6 years.

[Buenchico]

AAAGH!

I was typing while you were posting. (So I didn't know about the girl's birthday falling on 1st September). I wrote "Children who're 5 years old on the 1st September go into year 1" but I should have written "before 1st September".

A child with a 1st September 11th birthday will be regarded as 10 years old on the qualifying date, and will thus be placed into Year 6.

[Buenchico]

Once again, I was typing while you were posting. Devon operates the traditional (infant/junior/secondary) system. So the girl would be placed into the final year (Year 6) of a junior school (as the oldest pupil in the year group):
http://www.devon.gov.uk/admissions_transfers

[Androcles]

Thanks Chris,

Not the intended recipient of your wisdom, but in my day they were called first form through to sixth form, so I always wondered what these "new" year numbers meant - basically take the old system and add five!

[annie0000]

Cheers again Chris - she had to be awkward!! In Scotland, the key date is 1 March. Kids who are 5 on or after 1 March and prior to school start date in August MUST start school that August. Kids who will be 5 after school start date in August but prior to 1 March the following year MAY start school in the August preceding their 5th birthday or can defer entry until the following August. All very confusing isn't it? My sons friend who moved up here from down south had the opposite problem with his little Sister who had been at school in England but was too young to attend in Scotland when they moved up at the beginning of the year. She had to go back to nursery for 6 months until she could start this August.