Will DS have to skip a year of school?

[StuntNun]

DH and I are considering moving from Northern Ireland to England. DS was born in July 2006 so he is currently in year 4 (called P5 in NI). But if we had been living in England he would have started school a year earlier and would be in year 5 now. I'm wondering whether he would have to go up a year because of his age or whether it would be taken into account.

I think that he will have to go up a year, so current year 5, but hopefully someone with more knowledge will be along soon.

It's particularly worrying because he has dyslexia and is currently reading at about two years behind his age so going up a year would be very challenging for him in literacy. He's doing exceptionally well in numeracy so he would find it a lot easier to catch up there.

I think he would have to join his year group according to age as that is how it works in England. However he should then receive support to meet his learning needs in order for him to remain in that year group.

If you were considering an independent school, there is a lot of flexibility about the year group a child joins.
For state I don't know. You probably need to ring LEA to discuss with the relevant person.

He would join Year 5.

You could ask for him to be in year 4, but then he would be a year older than his peers, which wouldn't be great.
It is unlikely that they would agree to year 4 anyway, and if they did, it is likely that when they move to secondary, they would expect him to go inot age correct group.

Don't forget, that he isn't going into P5, with kids a year older, he is going into a class with kids of his age. So he won't be any further behind with his reading, as the kids will be the same age as him.

Yes, they will have had 1 years more schooling, but they are the same age, so much of what they do in literacy etc will be the same.

the Flexible Admission for Summer Borns group on facebook has several parents in a similar situation. You may find support there.

The thing to realise is that it is normal to have a wide spread of attainment in one class in England. I have known children arrive with little English and very mixed educational backgrounds and do very well.
The other thing is that with dyslexia, if he is "more behind" for his year group he will get more help. Unless you are moving to a grammar school area (Bucks or Kent spring to mind) then I wouldn't worry.

The English national curriculum is based on a lot of repetition, so the syllabus for year 4 will not be that different to year 5 (except for some topics like History).
In literacy and Maths the syllabuses will be quite similar, with the aim to just advance a bit each year.

In my experience it isn't that crucial until GCSE years, and I've seen students suddenly blossom at those ages.