Year 5 to year 7 ...skipping year 6

[22Mya]

Just wondering if anyone knows anyone who has skipped year 6 and how did they fare?

[NaughtToThreeSadOnions]

Unless it's a private setting I'm not sure skipping years is possible!

[Wriggle45]

And even if it is not sure you would want to..... Reckon you could get away with year 4 or 5 but I think there is a lot of cementing/growing up goes on in year 6. (I write as someone who missed year 4 myself.... And have put 2 kids through junior school now.... Other than gaining an extra year's pension contribution I'm not sure what missing the year gained me!)

[monkey42]

I agree with wriggle, I did exactly this many moons ago. I missed year 6 to go direct to the local academically selective school. I was not the only 'year young' child, there were 1 or 2 per class. I more than held my own academically and there were never any issues on that front, and I adored school, made friends and was in sports teams etc, but it serves no purpose and as a teen was very awkward when it came to puberty / boys etc. I also found at the end that university statutes said students had to be 18, and many interesting gap year options were not available to those under 18, so had to ask to be considered by admissions tutors. I would not do the same to my own kids and am relieved I turned out alright having done it myself. My parents sent me young not because they were remotely pushy but because I was given a free place which they were scared to turn down.

[BackforGood]

I'm involved with dc with special needs in Early Years and a question that gets asked a lot is if they can keep their dc in Nursery for an extra year and start school a year late. My answer has ALWAYS been, that if they get the LA to agree to this, the most important thing is to make sure they get it in writing that they won't have to start in Yr1 (and miss Reception) and that they won't be made to leap from Yr5 to Yr7, as those 2 are really BIG years in the life of a child.

Why would you want to. Or, how is it you are having to ?

[catslife]

My former independent school had a small proportion of pupils who should have been in the year below. There was a cut-off i.e. you had to have a birthday before the 31st December so would become 11 years old in the first term of Y7 and had to have achieved a high enough mark on the entrance tests in Maths and English.
However it's a difficult balance between being able to achieve the academic standard and having the necessary physical maturity. It may be different for boys and girls (I was at a girl's school) but some children (particularly boys) may find it harder being the smallest in the class for example. Some girls who were a year young did very well academically (one friend went to medical school) but others would perhaps have achieved better if they had been kept in the correct year group and only obtained average results. Early entry for GCSEs is currently being discouraged as the evidence suggests that pupils achieve much better if they take exams at the end of Y11 (where most pupils will be 16).
If there are good reasons for early entry from the child's point of view it may be a good idea to make enquiries with independent schools.

[ProfGrammaticus]

Why do you ask?

[MrsJayy]

In scotland year 7 is still a primary child i couldnt imagine sending a 9/10yr old to secondary school Socially I dont think a child could cope

[efrieze78]

Doesn't particularly help you but I skipped Year 3 in an independent school in the 80s. Meant I went to Uni at 17 (not 18) but it wasn't a problem. Meant I started my career on my 21st birthday and haven't looked back. No big deal.

[Bonkerz]

From the other side of the coin this would suit my DD perfectly but isn't possible. She has always been advanced and has always been placed in a class with year older pupils. She's now in year 5 and it's the first year she is being taught with other kids her own age. She is top of the class and working towards the level above her year group so technically he nearly finished year 6 work already. All her friends are due to leave in July to start the local high school and the teachers are worried she is going to suffer socially next year as she is more mature and academic than her year 5 friends. Thankfully everyone recognises this and we are trying to find a way to help her but she would be much happier if she could stay with her year 6 friends and move schools. Academically this is the easier option that technically repeating year 6!

[MrsJayy]

I just think its a big jump from primary to secondary i know it would happen if say a 6yr old jumped a year but they would have time to adapt iyswim

[Foxyloxy1plus1]

You'd probably have a problem with SATS as well, because there would be no matched data. There's also the issue of emotional maturity, which is not inconsiderable, as well as being separated from friends. If it's a question of boredom or not being academically stretched, can you talk to the school about enrichment, liaison with universities, all kinds of additional stuff.

[22Mya]

My sister is considering it for her ds. He is one of the oldest in his year, physically the biggest and tends to play a lot with the older year groups anyway. Also academically working about a year ahead.

She knows a couple of private schools that would take children at 10+6 months as long as they pass the exam but doesn't know anyone else who has done this so thought I'd ask.

[Radiatorvalves]

My DH was put up a year as he was doing well at school. He's not Einstein but coped well with the work. However socially it was not a success. Although good at sport he was always too small to be picked for the team. He went to university at 17 which is too young. He survived but would never let our DSs miss a year.

[MrsJayy]

Scottish kids can go to uni at 17 its really young imo anyway Dd1 used to get work from the year above and last year of primary was doing secondary work our school didnt up a year

[thatstoast]

My Dh did it in the state system. I don't think it had either particularly positive or negative effects. He just went earlier.

[ChalkHearts]

Academically a year ahead? That'd probably put him in the top third of his (state) class. Not even on the top table.

A year ahead means he's on track for Bs at GCSEs. You need to be two years ahead to be on track for As.

I.e. a year ahead doesn't really mean a year ahead.

And he is certainly not doing well enough to jump a year.

[thatstoast]

Sorry chalkhearts, Are you saying that being an entire year ahead of your peers isn't anything unusual?

[MrsJayy]

Maybe if it's a small private smaller classrooms he would be ok

[ChalkHearts]

Thatstoast - I'm saying that being 2 years ahead isn't unusual. Most DC who get As at GCSEs would be classed as 2 years ahead in Y6.

4 years ahead would be unusual.

[22Mya]

It's an interesting analogy, predicting GCSE grades based on primary school achievements. I would have assumed that working ahead only means that the child is ready for more challenge at that stage and if the child is competitive, may take on bigger challenges in the same spirit.
I have known very average DC at primary who have gone on to achieve straight As at GCSE with the right supportive secondary education.
I was more curious about the whole package- academic, social and emotional.

[unexpectedworms]

Why does she want to accelerate him though? Does she think he'll be disruptive in year 6 due to boredom? He might be ahead now but struggle in a few years time.

My brother repeated year 6 (private school). He is an October birthday so went from being the youngest to one of the oldest. My parents were given the option to do this and other parents in the same boat did not take it.

why not give him an extra year of "childhood". Surely all that will happen is he'll have to wait a year to go to university (which is fine IMO but maybe more frustrating then).

I used to work in university admissions and we were not permitted to take 17 year olds however academically advanced their parents felt them (and there were a few).

[thatstoast]

Is there any research you can point to on this? I'll have a field day if I can tell my husband moving up a year doesn't mean he was a child genius, just an average b grade student.

[LowDudgeon]

I know of a couple of girls who did it - both are in their 30s now. Their circumstances were different though. One just went from standard Y5, & the other never did Y3 - she started KS2 in Y4 purely because of class size management so she went up with the rest of Y6 although she was Y5 age.

This was at a selective school though so obviously they had to pass the entrance exam a year early too. They both did very well though.

It is (or used to be) only possible to skip a year if the child's birthday is Sep-Feb. I don't know why it isn't also possible for a Mar-Aug child to repeat a year if it would benefit them.

[LowDudgeon]

Also, re 17 being too young for uni - many years ago I had a Scottish penfriend who was a year ahead at school. She went to Glasgow university at 16!

But that was nearly 50 years ago & university was a very different world then. (She also did very well - she was incredibly clever & hard-working but also socially mature)

[ChalkHearts]

In the uk Working ahead doesn't mean the child is ready for more challenge.

Because all lessons are differentiated anyway. In most state classes you'll have people working 2 years ahead and 2 years behind. And they'll all be taught appropriate material. Eg they might all learn fractions but the 'bottom' table will be colouring in one half of a pizza while the top table will be adding or multiplying fractions.

So one year ahead will be easily covered, and challenged, in the normal classroom.


Of course GCSE grades can be predicted from Y6 grades! It's only a prediction. If you're doing avg (i.e not working ahead) in Y6 you are most likely to get a C at GCSEs. You could get any grade but you're most likely to get a C.