For those that have returned to the UK with school age children after living in Australia i would just like to ask whether they felt their children were behind in school when returning to the UK school system? My son will be approx 5 and half when we plan to return to the UK.

I wouldn't worry whether your son is "behind" if he's only 5 and a half when he starts in a UK school. In my opinion children shouldn't even have started "school" at that age and they certainly shouldn't be assessed whether they're behind. In any case, he'll have enough years in front of him to catch up with the others...

I really wouldn't worry about it either. Its more important at his age to just simply enjoy school, get settled in and be making some little friends.

Just say your son was behind...(he might be in front..) my neice and SIL are teachers here in the UK and they say there is plenty of help to catch up....sometimes overseas students might be slightly behind in reading or writing but with a little bit of extra fun learning the students are soon up to standards....try not to worry as he is very young and it all education all levels out in the end.

I don't know if this helps, but my daughter was almost 8 years old when we left the UK to live in WA. We spent nearly 2 and a half years there and I worried about how she would fit back into a UK school.

When we left the UK, she was in the average ability group at school - as opposed to the lower or higher group.

On her return, after many reading, spelling, maths and writing assignments, she remains in the middle group - despite my concerns.

As other people have said, I wouldn't worry about this with the age of your child. I'm sure it would be a different story if you were returning with a teenage child who was ready to sit GCSE exams and had spent many years out of the UK school system.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I understand my son is still young so will just take it as it comes when we move back.