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Original poster

How do English and Scottish years match up?

37 replies

figleaf · 06/08/2006 18:01

I have a 5 y.o just finished reception here so will go back in Sept as a Y1 (he`ll be 6 in April next year) and an 8 year old that has finished Year 3 who will go back as Year 4 in September (he turns 9 in November). What school years will they be in if we moved to scotland?
Possibility of DH job moving at Christmas and I dont understand the scottish system - please help!

OP posts:
Original poster
figleaf · 06/08/2006 18:10

little bump

OP posts:
bobsmum · 06/08/2006 18:13

Age cut off is different up here. Youngest child will be 28/9th Feb and oldest is March 1st. When are your childrens' birthdays?

My ds is 4 in Sept and will start school next August 2007, he'll be in the middle of his year group agewise. Children generally start school later in Scotland than in England.

seb1 · 06/08/2006 18:23

You might find parentzone helpful parentzone and here are Scotland's equivalent to Ofsted HMIE also you can access most school websites through the local council websites. Let me know if you need any other help.

Original poster
figleaf · 06/08/2006 18:23

Bobsmum, My 5 y.o will be 6 on April 25th 2007 and the 8 y.o will be 9 on 16th Nov 2006.

OP posts:
Original poster
figleaf · 06/08/2006 18:27

They are really useful links Seb1 to help with investigating particular schools - thanks.

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Original poster
figleaf · 06/08/2006 18:32

Bobsmum - using your dates I can see that my oldest (born Nov 16) will be one of the youngest in his year and my youngest(born 25th April) will be one of the oldest. I still cant work out the school years though. Will the 5 y.o have to do reception again?

OP posts:
seb1 · 06/08/2006 18:32

I think your 5 year old will be in primary 1 and your 8 year old in primary 5. HTH

seb1 · 06/08/2006 18:38

Where about in Scotland will you be going?

bobsmum · 06/08/2006 19:12

There is no reception year in Scotland and no split intakes for different ages. Everyone who is 5 or turning five in that academic year will start in Primary 1.

Primaries are from 1-7 so your children will leave primary 7 in primary school and start first year in secondary aged 11 or 12.

I asked MN years ago to amend their information on the Scottish school system. This must be a reasonably common question. I say amend - there is no acknowledgement that it even exists. I suppose there only are 5 million of us...

nicnack2 · 06/08/2006 19:37

if it helps my birthday is in apr so in 1975 i started in P1 in the august of that year. My brother who was born in the sept(not the same year) started the month before he was 5.HTH. I moved up to senior school in 1982 when i was 12.

Original poster
figleaf · 06/08/2006 22:01

So, if I understand you kind Mnetters my 5 y.o will go into primary 1. This is the first year of primary school in scotland. Because of the March - feb thing hell be one of the oldest. Although its not a repeat of reception (as there isnt a reception) hell have a low pressure, play based year again - is that right?

My 8 y.o is kind of missing out a school year though. Here in England he started school at 4yrs 10 month old in September 2002 (He turned 5 in November 2002). If we stay here hell enter Year 4 where every one is aged 8 or 9. In Scotland hell go into P5 so I`m thinking he has managed to fall through a gap somewhere and miss out P4?

If Im being really thick Im sorry but would apprieciate someone clarifying this for me - thanks.

Seb1 my DH job is in Cumbernauld but I dont think I`d like to live there. We like older houses so we thought maybe Stirling - nothing firm yet.

OP posts:
Original poster
figleaf · 06/08/2006 22:11

bump

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nicnack2 · 06/08/2006 22:12

Best thing would be to approach a school. P1 they will start learning as the school cirriculm starts. I suspose our reception is pre school nursery. Your eldest one may well have to be assessed to see where he would fit best whether p4 or p5.

if you are thinking of stirling then bridge of allan is a nice area. hth

seb1 · 06/08/2006 22:12

Yes, 8year old in England Reception,Y1,Y2,Y3 going into Y4 in Scotland P1, P2, P3, P4 going into P5 (as he would have started both at the same time due to his birthday)

MrsApron · 06/08/2006 22:15

this might help
Children in scotland start school in the year which they turn 5. The year begins march 1st. so if a child is 5 on march first 2006 to Feb 28th 2007 they begin Primary one in August 2006.

Children's ages range from the oldest being 5 years and 5 months to 4 years and 7 months for the youngest.

reception - primary one
year one - p2
year two - P3
These are Infant classes in Scotland.

Year three - P4
year four - P5
Year Five - P6
Year Six - P7
Transfer to secondary happens after p7.
Dunno what you call it after that but we have
S1 to S6 - Secondary 1 to 6

Standard grades exams are sat in S4. Highers in S5 and sixth year studies in S6. I have no idea what goes on with the two year highers.

Oh and before that we have nursery where kids start the term after he/she is three so in your youngests case he would have attended nursery last school year and started Primary one this year.

Hope this hasn't confused things further.

Stirling v nice btw

seb1 · 06/08/2006 22:15

Here are some property links as well s1homes and gspc HTH

Original poster
figleaf · 06/08/2006 22:20

You are all very kind. Think I have that one in my head now. thanks for the property links too Seb1.

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merlotmama · 18/08/2006 00:18

Sorry, I'm coming in 'at the coo's tail' (a Scottish expression for you!) here...hope you're still watching this thread. My understanding is that Primary one here involves more formal work than English reception classes. So it shouldn't be a wasted year for your son.
One small amendment to Mrs Apron's account...Highers are taken in 5th year of secondary school and then Advanced Highers in 6th year.

MrsSpoon · 18/08/2006 00:30

Similar to merlotmama but I thought that reception was similar to the pre-school nursery year that we have here.

Stirling is a fantastic choice as somewhere to live, avoid Cumbernauld like the plague.

KristinaM · 18/08/2006 00:52

I think your kids will go into primary 2 and primary 5. They wont take account of what age they started at , more how many years of schooling they've had and where they woudl fit in best

Yes, your 5yo will be one of the oldest in the class - the March born kids are the oldest. Your 8yo will be about average / young for his year, but all the December to Feb born kids will be younger.

tomole11 · 10/07/2018 00:43

i have 3 children and planning to move to Scotland. i want to find out what year will they be by Sep this year. 2018.

1st was born on 24th Sep 2002. 15 yrs old. 16 yrs in September 2018. she is in year 10 now. going to year 11 by Sep this year.

2nd was born on 2nd Nov 2003. 14yrs old. 15yrs in Nov 2018. he is n yr 9 now. going to year 10 by sep this year

3rd was born 9th of June 2011. 7yr old. she is in year 2 now going to year 3 by Sep this year.

tomole11 · 10/07/2018 00:51

??

drawnmyjohn · 10/07/2018 18:03

tomole11

I believe your first dc (born 2002) will be going into 5th year, however the Scottish pupils will have completed the GCSE equivalents so that's a bad point to join.

2nd dc (2003) will be going into S4, most schools will be in the second year of national 5s at this point, so again not a good time to join but they can catch up!

3rd dc (born 2011) will be going into primary 3 I think, as the birthday cut offs are different in Scotland!

Main concern would be dc1 as they won't have the same qualifications as the other pupils, however my dd did this (only had English and maths taken a year early) and although it was hard work, she managed it. So it is possible, just difficult.

tomole11 · 12/07/2018 10:01

is it possible for my dc1 (2002) repeat S4 instead of going to S5. dat will enable her to do GCSE

drawnmyjohn · 12/07/2018 11:44

If you were going private then they would definitely accommodate that, but with state you'd have to discuss it with the school and council.

I don't think they'd do it honestly, as they'd lose funding for her after S5 then. But depending on the school she could take national 5s (GCSE equivalents) in fifth year, although only 5 compared to the normal 7.

They might work with it in your situation though as she has no qualifications, so it's really worth asking them what they can do!

College could be an option?