I have been trying to understand how the school starting age works in Oz, and from what I can tell there are different rules applied in different states, in particular I'm looking at Victoria and NSW.

In UK, kids usually start in reception class when they are 4 and will turn 5 during the academic year. Some schools allow younger children to postpone the September start until January and some don't, but allow the younger ones (just turned 4) to do half days etc instead.

In NZ kids can start anytime between their 5th birthday and 6th birthday, but in reality most kids start on or just after their 5th birthday. If the child's birthday is Jan-June they go straight into year 1, and if July-Dec they go into year 0.

My older child started school in NZ a month after the 5th birthday, which fell just before an end of term holiday and went straight into year 1. This was several months later than we would have started school in UK.

Am I right in thinking Oz is sort of similar to NZ where they actually have to be 5 before a cut off date to start school, but can't begin until the start of the following academic year? And what happens to kids that miss cut off dates....do they have to stay at pre-school/kindy until they are nearly 6, or are there other options?

And lastly, if a 5 year old has already started school in another country, would they be allowed to carry on going to school in Oz, and if not what do parents usually do with them? I ask because I have one friend in NZ whose child did half an academic year in UK at school, and then had to go back to kindy in NZ for a term and was bored stupid, only to start school all over again in year 0 and then had problems as he was then well ahead of all his peers academically having already done 6 months at school in UK.

In NSW they must have their 5th birthday by 31st July in order to start school in the Jan/Feb of that year.

This means they are in the range of 4.5 thru to 5.5 when they start school.

This is the official date for public schools. Private schools often have their own, earlier cutoff dates - usually around April.

In practice, many parents hold their children back a year if they have a birthday in the early part of the year, in order to avoid them being the youngest.

http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/gotosc...tingschool.php

Just to add - the first year of official school in NSW is called 'Kindergarten' (other states call it different names - Prep, Year 1 etc). It is however proper full-time school where they learn everything you would expect.

Is that for year 1 or is there an equivalent of NZ year 0/UK reception?

I run a blog for mums moving to Australia (http://www.mumsgone2aus.com)and have covered school starting ages in different states in an article that you should find useful. Enrolling in Australian primary school – state your state
You’re right, that different states in Aus have different rules and the cut-off dates in VIC and NSW differ. Also Aus is different to NZ in that children don’t start as soon as they turn five, they have to wait until the start of the next academic year for which they are eligible.
The school year in Aus starts at the end of Jan. For children to start school in the Jan they must be turning five during the year that they start school and before the state cut off date – in VIC the cut of date is 30 April, in NSW it’s 31 July. My son started school in NSW this year, he’s four and will be turning five before 31 July. From what I’ve seen he’s one of the youngest in the class, which is another consideration all together!
In most states in Australia it isn’t compulsory for a child to start school until they’re six, so in my son’s case I could have chosen to wait another year (meaning that he would be five when he stated school, about to turn six). In my experience it is more common for Australian children to start when they’re five turning six, than four turning five. I had a few concerns when I saw my four year old next to some of his classmates who are about to turn six, but I know schools are used to dealing with the prep or kindergarten age range.
I don’t have any direct experience of children wanting to start school part way through the year, I would imagine this might be a school by school policy and will depend on their numbers. We’re in Sydney where schools are quite oversubscribed so waiting until the start of the next academic year might be a way to secure a spot??
Hope this has helped! All the best, Sarah (Mum @ Mum’s gone 2 Aus)

No, that's for Kindergarten, which is the first year of proper school in NSW.

In NSW the school years are:

Primary (7 years in total) - Kindergarten, then Year 1 thru Year 6
High School (6 years in total) - Year 7 thru Year 12

If the first year of school is called kindergarten, then what is the equivalent of NZ kindy/UK pre-school called and what ages is is for?

I'm not familiar with UK pre-schools as they didn't exist when I last lived there. Here in Sydney, institutions for children before they go to school have different names. Some are called pre-schools, some are called kindys, some are just child-care centres. They all have different hours, costs etc.

There is no official state-run pre-school system in NSW. There are a few (very few) pre-schools attached to public schools but they're mostly in poorer areas. Pre-schools/kindys etc are almost 100% privately run. Optional whether you send your kids to one (though most people do).

This may help:

http://www.australianschoolsdirector....php?region=29

And this is good too http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Australia

Cut off date for enrolments in Vic is 30 April (as it is in ACT) - just to confuse you more, so a child needs to have turned 5 before 30 April of the year that they start full time school (which in all states is the year before year 1)

As Quoll said, in Vic it's April 30. As an example, my first-born (call him FB) was born on July 13, 2006. He should start primary school next year, in 2012. He will be over 5 1/2 when he starts.

Second-born (SB) was born on 9 April, 2008. According to the calendar here, he could start school in 2013 as he will turn 5 that year before 30 April. That would mean he could start school at 4years and 9 months We are probably going to hold him back in kinder for a year. I can't get my head around having FB and SB only one year apart in school, when really they are almost 2 years apart in age.

The first year of school in Victoria is called Prep. Then it's Year 1. Some kids repeat Prep rather than kinder.

Hi there, post 4 of this thread was moderated as it was from a new member and contained links. It has now been approved and is visible.

Hi i'm in WA and have just asked at my 11year olds school about kindy for our son, he is 3 and will be 4 in september. He will not be able to start until Feb 2012 he has to be turning 4 by July 30th. ( so he will be 4years 5months)
kindy is similar to UK nurserys although at that school it would only be for 3 mornings a week.
Then Feb 2013 he will be able to start pre primary ( aged 5 years 5 months ) this is not full time 2-3 days per week and it is not compulsary education, so i have been told. i would say this is like UK reception/foundation stage class but not full time.
......... and finally Feb 2014 aged 6 years 5 months my boy will be able to start Primary grade 1.

But good news my daughter born 2/6/2009 will start kindy the year after him and will be 3 years 8 months

i

We have just started our eldest in kindy (NSW). She turns five in April and is therefore on the young side to start. My oh and I spent ages stressing about whether to send her or not, because my Aussie friends had held their daughters back (they were born June of the year before). In the end we decided to give it a go, because she was bored at home with me and her younger sister, and because she wanted to go and is a confident child. When we took her for her transition days, we started to have doubts because the group she was with were all bigger physically that her (even though she is tall for her age).

When we took her for her first day yesterday, the other children in her class were of a similar physical size, so I guess they have divided the four kindy groups by birthday. She enjoyed herself, and went back in today full of smiles, so I am hoping that we made the right choice.

Sounds like it can sometimes be a bit tricky deciding when they should start then. I suppose though, if there is even a slim chance that you might one day return to the UK, it would be better that they start earlier rather than later. As far as I know, the UK are much more rigid about year levels and a child who started school later could end up at a distinct disadvantage if they effectively had to jump up a school year.

My son was 4 in November 2010. He starts Kindy next week.

However NEXT year he will start school, his first year is called prep...then year 1, 2, etc up to 6. Then he leaves and goes to Secondary till hes in Year 11 (17) or year 12 (18)

The cut off date for this ^^^^ school year is april 30th 2011

We are in Vic and most states are different to each other