New Zealand education system compared to the U.K

[Antipogees]

Hi everyone,

We’re moving from New Zealand to the U.K in June this year.
We’re wondering if anyone on here has made the same move to the U.K from New Zealand and can tell us how the two compare in terms of secondary eduction.

Our daughter is year 7 currently (12/2012) and our son is year 5 (07/2015). Although both kids are bright, we’re concerned the education system in New Zealand is behind the UK.

We’ll be moving to St Margaret’s, Twickenham and are aiming for Orleans or Grey Court schools (you laugh I know, but fingers crossed)

The move is work driven and our plan would certainly be to see the kids education through in the U.K
It’s going to be hugely overwhelming for everyone, the kids especially. New country, new house, new school, making new friends.

Thanks in advance!

Can't comment on the relative ahead/behind.

However I do have relatives in New Zealand and the schooling system is clearly very different.

In the U.K. it is usually split into primary (age 4-11) and secondary (age 11 onwards).

As you have a child already in year 7 which in when secondaries start, you will need to apply for a place from the local authority when you arrive and can prove you address.

They have to give you a school place but it is very unlikely to be at any of the outstanding schools as they will be full.

Your child in year 5 will also be given a place in a primary. I believe London primaries are now starting to thin out a bit on places so you may have some choice there.

He can then apply for a secondary as part of the normal admissions round.

England doesn't have catchment schools in the sense that everyone in area X goes to school X. Instead you have to apply for a place at multiple schools and then they choose.

Yes it's a little behind but at years 7&5 I think the catch up won't be too arduous. Especially as you say they are bright.
Mostly maths and languages. Year 7 they will have probably done some French and sometimes another language but it will still be very early stages.

Things like history aren't much of a problem as you'll have just missed entire topics that won't be needed for GCSEs like Vikings or some such thing.

We moved back from NZ to the UK in 2023, with a Y5 and Y8, so very similar. The Y8 was always considered exceptionally bright in NZ, and whilst it was obvious to us the Y5 was struggling with literacy, nothing was addressed in NZ. Before we left i downloaded the curriculum for their new schools, and they went to tutors in NZ for a term and a bit to boost their maths and, for the Y5, try to help literacy. We estimated at the time they were around 2 years behind the UK in terms of maths and literacy was being taught completely differently. Both kids have loved being in the uk, and school here, and have noticed rhe education is much broader than where they were - for example doing global history/geography, not just New Zealand centric (both ways have their merits, I'm sure). The Y8 still had a lot of gaps in maths and had to work hard to catch up, and says she still really noticed not having learnt global history.the Y5 was promptly diagnosed with dyslexia and gets a lot of remedial help, for which we're super grateful but it has been tough. They other kids had already started french so we dropped it in favour of english literacy, which was a shame, but he was behind in every subject owing to his difficulties. I'm certainly glad we didn't move later, into the GCSE years.
My advice would be to compare the UK curriculum with what your kids already know, and see what gaps need plugged, if any. In terms of history etc a quick knowledge based catch up via programs like Horrible Histories of BBC bitesize means they will have an idea. The latter is really good for learning, we still use it! Feel free to pm me if you want, and good luck with the move!

I think one of the differences is when the school year starts which dictates which school year they go into. Your DD with a December birthday will end up being one of the older ones in her year, whereas I imagine she is the youngest in NZ. However, your DS will be one of the youngest in the year and possibly find the switch harder. The schools they go into will work to plug any gaps they encounter and I really wouldn't worry too much about it.

When are you looking to relocate and do you have relocation support from your husbands company (they often help with school placements).

Has your DD just started y7 in NZ and is that now intermediate school? My experience (a long time ago now) was that intermediate was more like primary school than secondary. I'd be tempted to try get your daughter to start y7 here in September so she can start secondary here with everyone else transitioning (however the secondary school may not then accept that - so worth checking before deciding).

As your DS is quite young for Y5 so it should be easier to start him in Y5 in September but again I'd check that this won't cause an issue for Secondary. Primary school will want your son to do well for SATs so whatever year you choose they will support him with English and maths.

My DC have friends who came back from New Zealand. Bit behind but then caught up. UK state education became a lot more advanced in the last 15 years, especially in Maths. Your Year 5 will enter Year 6 and have a whole year to catch up on KS2 SATS and the curriculum. For Maths, I recommend following Singapore Maths method. Good work books like Schofield Sims, Mental Arithmetic Series. You can download KS2 SATS for free as well to take a look. It is how the questions are worded in Maths that could be tricky initially. You could also check the Year 7 is comfortable with KS2 SATs Maths papers, for example.

As others have said, getting into outstanding state schools will be harder for the Year 7 but you may be able to transfer in as a sibling once the younger one gets a place (if you move into the right catchment). It would be disruptive for your older one though, moving schools twice.

Sciences are taught quite intensely as well for GCSEs here, especially if you do Triple Science. You want to hit the ground running in year 9.

If you feel that your kids may be behind there are some good resources to help them

BBC Bitesize here

CGP resources - for your younger one here

For maths mathletics

Good luck with your move!

Hi everyone, thanks for the very helpful replies so far.
I’ll certainly check out the links that have been posted in this thread.

Is it a safe bet that because there’s no published school catchment areas in the U.K, that living closest to the school will put us higher up the waiting list for the schools we’re interested in?
I’m also assuming that it’s far less competitive at primary school compared to secondary schools in terms of placements?

Our school year in New Zealand has just started, it runs from the start of February until midway through December, then we have our 6 week summer break.
Our plan would be for the kids to do half a year of schooling in NZ and then we move in June, find a house, apply for schools and then ideally they start the new school year in September in the UK. I’ve read on here that applying in June is not a bad plan as there can sometimes be people leaving etc.

Can someone tell me what year my kids would be in if they started school at the beginning of the academic year this September 2025, it’s quite confusing as the school year is very different here in New Zealand.
My daughters DOB is 12/12/2012
My sons is 11/07/2015

Thanks again!

Your daughter will start Year 8 in September 2025 and your son will start Year 6 in September 2025.

London is a transient area. Your best moving as close as possible to the desired secondary school to place you high up on the waiting list. Places do open up even into the first few weeks of September.

As Roses2 says typically they would go into year8 and year6. It is possible to ask for them to go into the year below but do check with secondary school that they will accept this.

The closer to the school you are the higher up the list you will go. You will need to be in the house/flat before you can apply. It is quite competitive to get houses near Orleans - so you might want to factor that into your timings.

Have a read of the achieving for children Kingston & Richmond site (if you haven't already). Changing schools in year section. (Hope this link works).

kr.afcinfo.org.uk/pages/community-information/information-and-advice/school-admissions/changing-schools-in-year

I've recently checked the NZ 16 year old assessment nearest to GCSE's. Their assessments in English are much nearer to what is given in the American system and are a much lower level than the UK. I would say KS3 level, rather than KS4.

This might be why a lot of NZ students prefer the IB curriculum, which although at middle school level, isn't as rigorous as the UK system, does level up a bit when moving up at 16/17 to IB Diploma (UK KS5/A Level equiv, albeit a slightly lower level).

If you arrive in June (late or early?) they may be expected to take up their school places on arrival, not wait until September. Which wouldn't be a disaster, as they could make friends, identify if they are behind to do some studying over the holidays etc.

I know this isn't what you are asking but my dd started school in the UK in year seven after going to primary in Australia. She was behind, there is no doubt about it, but I think it was easier because it was high school and new concepts and learning were happening anyway.

She found it a lot easier than my younger child who was nine. She had all that grammar and learning about the Romans to catch up on.

Although on her first day she had zero lessons she had actually had before. French, science, RE and History (Ned Kelley doesn't count).

Hello, I was educated in New Zealand and it was terrible. I could not believe the difference in the quality of the education system in the UK and I despair for the opportunities I could have had if my parents had chosen to stay here. There are some good schools but be prepared to look hard for them or go private. New Zealand also has a prominent culture of gangs which many Brits aren't aware of, there is widespread methamphetamine use, low wages, poor living conditions and violence against women is considerably worse out there. I would also avoid buying property anywhere near a volcano ( which isn't as easy as it sounds) and expect to pay extortionate rates of insurance to cover natural disasters which regularly happen. I grew up diving under my desk at school when earthquakes would hit or dashing to high ground in case there was a tsunami. It's beautiful but there are a lot of downsides Brits don't consider before moving. Also, the school year runs from early February to mid-December with kids having 6 weeks off during that time for summer holidays - this is only relevant because I cannot imagine any school would want to wait until September for your kids to join if you're moving in June. On the plus side they'll likely be head of the class, which will be nice. Best of luck to you all : )

Op is moving to GB tho so should be OK wrt volcanoes!

What are you talking about? 🤣where in NZ did you live? NZers are not diving under tables regularly. Italians and Japanese aren’t either and they both have had far more volcanic disruption than NZ in the past few hundred years. Racing to high ground regularly? Huh? Not once have I or my friends ever raced to high ground. We’ve not had any serious natural disasters either other than some flooding a couple of years ago but no worse than the regular flooding in many parts of the UK and Europe. And that was one time.

a pot plant fell off a shelf in my brothers house in Wellington once due to a tremor.

yes Christchurch has had a terrible earthquake. And the UK has had bombings, terrorist stabbings and grooming gangs. But I’m not freaking out about the UK

The volcanoes are predominantly extinct. Or dormant with the likelihood of eruption being zero but not technically extinct. Did you get traumatised as a child by some panic stricken adult. Because your description just isn’t one that I or my friends recognise