England to Scotland help!

[Gmcminn]

Quick query - my daughter will be turning 9 in May and is currently in Year 4 in England. Planning a move to Scotland - been told due to her date of birth she would go into P5 in August.
So she will have 3 more years left at Primary school compared to if she stayed in England doing 2 more years of Primary.
Will she be effectively be repeating a year or am I getting confused?!

Primary school in Scotland lasts 7 yrs, not 6. Ergo, you transfer to secondary a year later than you would in England. In Scotland, you do 6 yrs in secondary.

ETA No, she won't be repeating, but she and all her classmates will complete a 7th yr in primary and then only do 6 yrs at secondary.

She will effectively have moved down a year as children in Scotland start primary between 4.5 and 5.5 (though can defer and start just before turning 6). But children in Scotland have a year less schooling than in England and leave S6 between 17.5 and 18.5 (or 19 if deferred). Yes that does mean the might be university freshers below drinking age!

This might be of use:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/choosing-school-guide-parents-nov-16/pages/2/

When I was at school, the ages in the linked table were true for most. However, by the time I retired from teaching, most of our pupils were only 11 when they started secondary and only 15 when they sat their exams in S4. In my day, most of us had turned 16 by the time we sat our exams - the diet started at the
end of April. (There's a typo, I see - the table should of course have P2, not P12.)

https://www.nurseryandschoolguide.co.uk/post/scottish-school-year-group-names-ages-and-curriculum

That link is wrong - you can’t be older than five on the school start date in August though can turn 6 the next day.

Children who have been deferred can still choose to leave school at the same age as if they hadn’t been deferred - which would be before exams.

You can do four years of secondary in Scotland depending on what month a birthday falls. Not everyone does want to stay on to do further qualifications in S5 or S6.

Depending on where she is in the school year, yes she might be doing an extra year.

Scotland school year starts mid August, but the cut off dates are February rather than September. So the youngest you start school
in Scotland is 4.5 (Feb birthday starting August) whereas in England the youngest you start is 4 and a few days (end of August birthday starting September).

The difference in years in school is in secondary. Primary in Scotland is P1-P7. Primary in England is Reception - Y1-Y6 (both 7 years just England dont start counting at 1).

Secondary wise Scotland let you leave sooner. S1-5 is pretty much mandatory. S6 is optional. So 5+1. Whereas England does y7-11+Y12/13. So 5+2.

If your child is young in their English school
year they’d have started school a year later in Scotland.

Thank you. She was born in May and will have completed the whole of Y4 by July in England so if we stayed in England she would just do Y5 and Y6 then go to secondary.
But if we move to Scotland her date of birth would put her going into P5 after the summer in August and doing P5/P6/P7.
She would be amongst the oldest in her class but I just feel bad she would be doing an extra year before secondary bringing her primary education to 8 years if you count reception.

You can leave in S4 if you want to. Many at DS15 school are leaving for college apprenticeships. Lots are not interested in doing Highers in S5. Which is a good thing. Not everyone needs to go to uni.

Primary can't be that different in both countries.

With a May birthday she won't be amongst the oldest in her class. Those with Jan, Feb, March & April birthdays will all be older than her.

In Scotland primary runs P1–P7, so going into P5 is the normal move from Year 4. It isn’t really “repeating” so much as matching the Scottish stages also with a May birthday she won’t be the oldest anyway (Jan–Apr kids will be older).

We don’t have reception in Scotland- kids do 2 years at nursery then 7 years of primary.

shes not going to be disadvantaged by this. She will be with her correct age group (lots will be older than her) She’s also going to be adjusting to new school, new education system, new friends.

this is a good thing. Not a bad thing.

In her year group March and April birthdays would be older than her. January and February birthdays would only be in her year if they'd been deferred.

Unless they are deferred, Jan and Feb children are the youngest in the year. May birthdays are towards the older end. Deferring children is pretty cultural and varies between schools. Some will have most deferred who can be, others will have very few. I forget when the rules were changed to allow automatic extra year of nursery funding which resulted in more children deferring, but I guess those around P5 will have fewer deferred children.

It's just a different system, you can't really compare. Children in Scotland do a year less of school overall whereas your daughter will have done the English number of years by the end. Y5 will be the correct year for her. Many children defer in Scotland too so as someone already said she'll be middle of the pack age wise.

(I've taught in both systems.)

You can leave after S4 and many do.

She’ll be in the older half, rather than oldest.

It will put her where November / December birthdays come out in England (so what most people would say is ‘normal’ age rather than eldest or youngest).

Yes, she will do more years in primary school than if you stayed in England. It won’t be more total years in school though. However, it’s a consequence of your move. She’ll be with children her own age, and that really matters for secondary as it finishes so much earlier. The ‘extra’ year is English year R, which in Scotland is more equivalent to pre school year. An that ship has sailed for her.

The ‘extra’ year is English year R, which in Scotland is more equivalent to pre school year.

Reception is equivalent to P1

Everyone on MN assumed all teenagers are interested in uni and stay til S6🤣 however back in the real world in Scotland many just leave ASAP and head to college or get a job to escape studying. It's not for everyone.

So far one of mine stayed til S6, looks like at least two won't be interested in uni. The one sitting Nat5s is likely to head to uni as he wants to sit Highers.

I know OP didn't ask about all this, but just wanted you to know that it's not always a given her DC will stay on til S6 further down the line in the education system in Scotland when they move.

The time in primary is fleeting!

You can also go to uni after S5. Most uni courses are based on Highers which they sit in S5, so many of those who do S6 get unconditional offers and basically end up wasting a year at S6. Most take their foot of the gas in terms of studying as soon as an unconditional offer comes through….

Thank you all!! Such a help for my confused brain!! 😂

Yes but the point I am making is that many just are not that interested in uni at all when they leave and that's great as we need more young people going into the trades and so on. We don't need people wasting their time going to uni when they don't have the motivation for it. It's not for everyone.