At what age does a child start primary school (Reception class..?)

[nopainnogain]

We live abroad and I just wanted to check when normal full time school starts in England. Can anyway let me know how it works please?

[Niecie]

Legally a child doesn't have to start school until the term after which they are five.

In reality most children start in the year they are 4, usually in September although some parts of the country stagger it a bit.

The school year runs from 1/9 to 31/8.

Applications for next September have to be in to the school of choice by the end of this term.

HTH

[Furball]

it's the september after they turn 4, so a september child would be nearly 5 and august child would just be 4.

[McDreamy]

It depends on your Local Education Authority and the school.

We are about to move into an school where DS won't start reception until the the term he is five which is the summer term 2010 instead of September 2009 which is when he would have started if we had stayed here.

Some schools have one intake, some two and some three. I was quite surprised at the variety.

[nopainnogain]

Thanks all, just realised I hadn´t acknowledged this thread (accidentally duplicated it!)