Secondary application deadlines

[longestlurkerever]

Hello. Just musing atm but if i were to relocate to Scotland from England when my dd1 turns 11 (which would be August) am i right in thinking she'd still be primary age in Scotland and we wouldn't have missed deadlines for applying to secondary schools? Thanks!

Yes, she would go into P7!

Thank you! Don't suppose you know how easy or otherwise or is to get in-year primary places in Edinburgh? I know you get catchment priority but does that mean they will find room for you or does there need to be a space?

So they were born in 2009? If so they would have started P1 in August 2014 and would be at the start of Primary 7 in August 2020 (last year of primary school)

Think Edinburgh has over subscribed schools but I'm not that area so not sure how it works

Haha, no this is a longer term musing. She was born in aug 2011 and here is one of the youngest in year 4 (out of 6). I would love to relocate but don't really want to uproot her, but thinking if she finished primary school here we would have at least one year to find our feet before she started secondary.

I’m in Edinburgh. Really depends on which school you want. Some schools are very full and others not so. Remember as well that secondary schools in Edinburgh are allocated by catchment based on where you live rather than which primary you attend.

Plus, your question about catchment and spaces- there does need to be a space but catchment would make you priority.

Yes, i guess I'd be less worried about which primary as she'd only be there for a year and would choose where to live based on secondary catchments, although there's dd2 to consider too (nearly 4 years younger with a june birthday)

She'd effectively be repeating P7 anyway as she started school in 2015 so could even home school i suppose!

But she wouldn’t be repeating they are completely different education systems. The school will still be teaching your DC and preparing her for secondary education under the Scottish system.

Well yes, i know, and i would obviously educate her one way or another in that year, preferably in a school, but the fact is if she was a few months older and we made the move at the end of English y6 she would go straight to secondary school wouldn't she? So p7 is a bonus year because of when her birthday falls. She will have already done 7 years of primary school

Shout about 1 in 4 pupils go private in Edinburgh. So whilst P1 places are at a premium, as you go further up the school (P5 onwards) then there are often spaces. More so in the wealthier areas! There has been a lot of movement in my DC's class (Royal High catchment).

Ah yes that's a familiar phenomenon at my oversubscribed London primary! But dd2 would presumably be P3?

but the fact is if she was a few months older and we made the move at the end of English y6 she would go straight to secondary school wouldn't she?

Not really no, our cut off is end Feb, so her birthday is pretty much in the middle of the expected age range. In Scotland she would have started P1 in August 16 and currently be in P4. Same year as in England but in the middle and not the youngest. She will be in P7 same year as she would be in year 7. No repeating, just in Primary rather than high school. Then she will start High School at age 12 and if she does her 6 years, will finish high school in in June 2029, just before she turns 18.

So DD2 was born June 2015?, she would be due to start Primary 1 here in August 2020. If you were planning for DD1 to be going into P7 , so arriving for August 22 then DD2 would be starting P3.

I get what you are saying but it makes sense to me. If all her current class moved north of the border at the same time everyone born before February would go straight to secondary school. They wouldn't be considered to have skipped a year, but they'd have had the same amount of schooling as my dd prior to that point because she started when she had just turned 4. Her being in the middle rather than the youngest is one reason why i think it might be beneficial to move, albeit it's a minor factor.

Thanks wax. Yes, that's right. She's in reception here at the moment.

In Scotland there are options to defer so the kids with birthdays before February could probably do P7 rather than go straight to secondary school

Ah i think i get you, but am getting confused.

Here there is reception (yO) too, before y1, so y6 is actually the equivalent of p7, though you start younger on average.

Well yes, that complicates the comparison, but i still think a child with a birthday between feb and aug who moves north of the border would end up doing an extra year of schooling than one who stays put in either jurisdiction!

No, reception is not the equivalent to P1, it's equivalent to pre-school here. Because of deferments etc then there is probably a good 18 month spread of ages rather than the strict 12 month. It's a much more flexible system. Children born the february prior to your daughter would either be in her year or the year ahead but would generally get a bit of flexibility about which year would be more suitable for them to join if they moved here. Not quite as much flexibility offered if your DC is in the middle of the age range.

Scroll down and look at the table:

There honestly isn't an extra year (unless you choose to do so)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Scotland

There’s quite a lot of differentiation in a class in P7. My DC is currently in P7 and is getting work that is S1 level. So I wouldn’t assume that P7 is repeating Y6. The years don’t correspond exactly eg Reception and P1 aren’t the same. The youngest child in a Reception class could be 6 months younger than the youngest in a P1 class.

The curriculum in Scotland is also quite different from the curriculum in England, so a year in P7 would be really useful to help adjust to the different style of education. Would also mean being involved in the normal transition arrangements between primary and secondary.

Yes, i totally wasn't thinking p7 would be a waste of time. More a bonus year to adjust that she wouldn't have got if older in her year and also meaning we would have te to apply for secondary schools in the normal way. But anyway, we might well have to move faster (and further) than i thought given the news today! Incidentally a lot more deferring is going on in England now too. Dd2 has several children in her reception class who were already 5 when they started. That table is confusing because no one starts reception aged 3.