I am confused about schooling for children in the UK and am hoping someone could explain it. What age is what 'grade'/class/year? Just to explain what I mean, in the US school starts with kindergarten (although lots of people do have their kids going to preschool at ages 3 and 4) at age 5. 1st grade is age 6, second grade is age 7 and so on. Then high school is like this, 9th grade is called "freshman", 10th is called "sophomore", 11th is "junior" and 12th grade is "senior" and at the completion of the 12th year (age 17/18) you graduate and can then move on to college or university.
So how does all of this work in the UK?
I've seen so many different words for 'grades' that my head is spinning, I've seen 'class', 'level', 'year' and 'term' to name a few. What's what and what age is what?
And is a 'state school' a 'public school', meaning open to anyone within the district at no charge? And then 'independent school' would be 'private' with a fee attached?
How does entry into schools work, I've read you have to live basically right next to the school you want your kids to attend, is this correct? Is there a general catchment chart I could look at? What happens if the school you want your children to attend -and you are in the catchment area- is full?
And last, do most schools offer bus service to and from school? Say if you don't live within walking distance, how do children get to and from school?

I'm sorry for all the questions and the general 'dunce-ness' I must be airing off.

Here is the info for England and Wales. (Scotland has its own education system):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_England

http://www.education.gov.uk/

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/...ol/DG_10038421

A semester is known as a 'term' in the UK and there are in almost all school districts (there are a few exceptions) three terms in each academic year; Autumn Term, Spring Term and Summer Term.

Not sure of the ages of your children (or child) but some other info can be found here and there are forums too if you have questions:

http://www.netmums.com/your-child/ch...and-preschools

http://www.netmums.com/your-child/ol...ild-and-school

http://www.netmums.com/your-child/tw...ondary_schools

Hope this helps!

You might also drop into the counterpart of this forum, UK Yankee, which is for American expats living in the UK. Several threads there deal with the issues arising from transferring from a US school system to the UK system.

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/

Children by law in the UK have to start school the Sept after their 5th Birthday. They would go into year 1.

"Reception" is the year before this where you can send your child to school if you want to - you don't have to but 99.99% of people send their kids at this age. Intake is usually staggered twice a year at this stage. My son was end of August so he started Reception year a few days after his 4th birthday.

Classes are within years so at his school Year 2 has classes 5 and 6 in it, Year 1 was classes 3 and 4 and reception was classes 1 and 2. (As in if there are 40 kids in the year half will be in one class and half will be in the other class).

Nursery is what you can send your child to before reception (usually from the age of 2 or 2.5) Usually you get funding for your child at 3 which means you don't have to pay when they are 3. I think they get 15 hours a week for free.

Different areas have different schools. Some have infants, juniors, middle schools and high schools. Some have 6th form colleges attached and some have seperate colleges. Kids have to go to school until they are 16 and choose to go after that until 18 and then they go to Uni.

State schools are ones funded by the government - you don't pay anything for those.

No - public schools you pay for... and it's a lot and hardly anyone does it. (Yes silly that it's called public - it just is)

Independent is usually how it is tied to a religion. We have Catholic schools , Church of England schools etc and Independent means not tied/teaching a certain religion.

Re Catchments - you get to choose 3 schools that you want your child to go to. Put your favourite one first. It doesn't have to be the nearest one. For example my village has 3 schools - I only put one down on the form and got him in. There are loads of kids in his school that aren't in the catchment - that live say 5 miles away and they got in no problem - I imagine this isn't the case around the country tho. You can get information from each school as to the number of applicants per year and percentage of who got in that applied.

You need to be reading ofsted reports (type it into google) - its the invigilating group that assess schools and grade them.

I don't know of any school that offers a bus service here. You have to get your kids to school yourself - if it's not walking distance you drive them.

Hope this helps! Typing it out for you has made me realise how hard it must be to get your head around!

Ok, I think I get it a bit better. Thanks for all of the replies.

Just one more question regarding ages. My children are (in the US): age 8 and in 3rd grade, age 11 and in 5th grade (she misses the age cutoff by just days), age 14 and in 9th grade. My oldest is 18 and out of school. So going by their ages and grades, what years/classes would they be in? Judging by the links my 8 year old would be in year 4, 11- year 6 and 14- year 10- but do they take into account what 'grades' the children are coming from? Or is it all by age? What about if say a child had failed a grade and by age should be in year 7 but had been held back a year in the US? Do English schools require reports from former schools when coming from another country?

As far as busing goes, if both parents work how do children get to/from school if walking is too far?

Yes I think your 8 year old would be in Year 4, 11 would be in year 7 and 14 in 10.

I don't know whether they take it into account what grade they come from. I would imagine each child would go into the year by age and then if they were behind on something the school would assess them and take it from there - either to let them repeat the year or get them up to speed.

In reverse we are hoping to move to Canada where kids start later - my son is just 6 but is in Year 2 and has completed 2 full years at school so will be infront of his Canadian counterparts. I have asked the question to the Calgary Board of Education and they are saying kids are assessed on entry and moved grades accordingly. One thing that they stressed was social maturity - they said my son might struggle in the year above him with older kids because he won't be as mature. We have made the decision that all being well he will go into the grade the same age as him and probably have an easy year as he will be able to do most stuff already (he is a fluent reader for example)

School secretarys are brilliant - you can ring them and they will talk you through all of this and really help you understand the system.

If both parents work either you go in late to work or you send them to "breakfast clubs" - usually run in community centres/nursery's and they get them to school for you - either by foot if it's close or bus. This costs you of course. Most open around 7.30am I think.

Hope this helps.

Great! Thank you!

So what's taking you to Canada? And where in England do you live now? When are you moving?

I tend to be overly curious.

It's great your son is already a fluent reader! I think it makes sense for him to go into the year he would be in by age. That way he will be able to adjust to everything new without any struggles of trying to keep up in class too. And I am not sure how Canada works, but in the US if there is a child that is excelling in a certain area they have ways to work with that, ie reading- the classes have different leveled reading programs- so those that excel can be in the advanced groups and those that need more help will get it. You may want to check to see if the school you're son will be attending offers such programs.

I really like the ofsted site, so beneficial when looking for schools!

Another question just came to mind. What times are school hours? Does it vary depending on where you are? Do most children take lunch to school or do most buy school lunch?

Actually you are incorrect!

An Independent school means that it is a private school. Many private schools in the UK have been established for more than a century and for historical reasons are usually allied to a religion, mostly Church of England, Roman Catholic but there are private Jewish schools, Quaker schools etc. However there are private schools which have no religious affiliation at all.

My daughter went to an Independent school (Headington School, in Oxford) where she boarded for two years when studying for her 'A' Levels. Although the school is "Church of England" going to services or saying prayers is not compulsory (although it has a lovely annual school Christmas Carol service in Christ Church Cathedral). Many of the pupils came from overseas; quite a few of the girls were from Malaysia and were/are Muslims. Pupils were/are welcomed from all faiths as long as they are sympathetic of the ethos of the school (and this goes for probably all Christian schools in the UK as far as I know).

http://www.headington.org/about-us/

When our children were young they went to the local village school in Essex - this was/is a Church of England school - as many are in England, but again there were children of other faiths attending the school. The earliest schools in England were generally set up by the Church, which explains why so many schools are allied to the C of E.

As for both parents working, yes in many areas there are 'Breakfast Clubs'. My sister sends her son to one, but it operates at the school he attends. When we lived in England I my job began at 9.30am so I would drop the kids off at school before driving to work. There were no buses for kids in our village - only for the older kids at the Secondary school in a nearby town which was too far to be considered to walk.

PS: Americans may be shocked that there is no 'seperation of Church and State' unlike the US! Here is some info about religion in schools in the UK -

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/...ious_education (see under the subheadings; Religious Education and Collective Worship)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_school

I stand corrected...

We love Canada... simple really. I won't put our other reasons for leaving the UK as this is the forum for people moving back! Hopefully moving soon - awaiting LMO approval. Currently in Yorkshire.

School hours here are 8.50am - 3.10pm.

School lunches - depends on child and what they like really. Some do a mix - a lot of kids have hot school dinners in winter and pack lunches in summer

What do the summer vacation dates look like? Does that vary from school to school? You mentioned lunches are usually packed in the summer, which got me wondering just how long is the summer break?

Is there after school care available?

Summer holidays are usually 6 weeks and school year starts at the beginning of September.
Availability of before/after school care varies from school to school.

Bussing depends on the school - we were in Suffolk, and all of the schools I attended bussed some children, because we were fairly rural. I believe the cut off was 3 miles away from the school, any less than that and you were expected to walk or bike.

Not completely true - a child should receive a full-time education from the age of 5, but there is no requirement that this should be at a school. Home schooling is also a valid option in the UK.