Is it possible for a child to be held back a year?

[Drunksushi]

Hello,
I’d really appreciate some advice or insights.
We are moving to England from Australia in a couple of months. Entering school in September for both my kids will be difficult:
The older one will go into Year 11 - in to the last year of the GCSE syllabus (there are no equivalent exams to GCSEs in Oz - exam year here is year 12).
The younger will go into year 8. His birthday is right at the end of August. At the moment he is in Year 6 and would not start secondary school in Australia until Jan 2024. Effectively he will miss the first year of secondary school.
Is it ever the case that children can be placed in different years? not exactly ‘held back’ but I suppose it’d be the equivalent.
It’s clearly not a normal thing in England but I wonder if there are exceptions?
It’s very difficult to get information from overseas. We’ve started the process of applying for admission with a school but they won’t speak to us directly yet.
This is the state school system, we can’t afford private education!

Yes, In my school a child was held back a year due to being born prematurely. It was okayed by the council I believe.

I have known schools to be flexible with year 11s starting in year 10 so they do the full GCSE course. It’s less necessary for a year 8 to start in year 7 but if you think it will benefit your child then ask.

Hi, yes it is definitely possible. I work in secondary education and deal with admissions. We have admitted students into a lower year when they’ve moved from overseas, usually due to the language difference but your reasons are as valid. Most schools would not want to admit a student to Y11 so would prefer them to start Y10. Your only issue could be it the year groups were already full. Good luck!

You would need to check with your local council, but summer born children are allowed to enter school the year below, ie instead of starting in Reception when they have just turned 4, they can start at just turned five the following year. By extension then, there could be these kids in Y7 at secondary as they continue on that pathway. To be honest though, I would be more concerned about the older one entering Y11. Effectively they will have two terms of get to grips with the curriculum of multiple subjects and then be expected to sir exams starting in late May.

Our London secondary school won’t admit children out of chronological age group due to funding. We don’t take students into year 10 or year 11 as option blocks are full by then and GCSEs well underway. I don’t know of many schools that will admit to Y11. You may be better tutoring for Y11 and then applying for sixth form next year.
Which area are you moving to?

Thanks everyone.
It sounds like it’s dependent on council area/finances and school places.
We're probably going to Lancaster - not least because there are schools in the area with places (in the age correct years). School is the main determining factor for exact location. Both our jobs are pretty flexible. We want to be in the North somewhere within distance for a doable regular drive to the Lakes (where my increasingly elderly parents live) and near my sister in central Lancs.
It’s really useful to hear that there might be some flexibility. Hopefully Lancashire is one of those counties.
We’ve begun the admission process with one school but they’re (understandably) not entering into any discussion until they’ve gone through their procedures of contacting our current schools etc.

(sorry if there’s a similar reply from me - I’m not sure if I lost one or it’s delayed!)

That’s actually where I live! What a coincidence.

I moved to the UK summer 2021 and my daughter was due to start year 11 in Sep 2021, they told me she would need to retake year 10 as some of her options chosen in year 10 in our home country were not the same as the UK.

I would actually be more worried about your oldest. Getting them into Y10 would be far superior.

For the youngest, are you on facebook? There is a group called "flexible admissions for summer borns". There was a guidance change that your oldest might be at the upper age for. Worth investigating if a)it was available for them at start of school and b) if it can be done for secondary entry.

We would do this at the state comprehensive I teach at, and actually secretly would be relieved about your oldest going into y10 rather than y11.
i am always a bit about posters who say schools won’t admit into y11, if a state school has a place they basically cannot refuse to fill it.

You can negotiate with the HT of prospective Primary for a placement to finish last year.

Depends on the LA admissions - I was forced to put mine into the age-equivalent year groups - no say in the matter or right to appeal (primary though, not secondary).

We found it no problem when emigrating to the U.K., the school was perfectly happy to accept us in lower forms.

Check their admissions policy, which should be on their website. Ours specifically covers the situations where we would consider an out-of-phase admission, which to be honest is either because they come out of phase from primary, or because an Ed Psych recommends it. Good luck!

Agreed it is likely to be possible for your child to go into Y10, but most schools would expect your child going into Y8 to go into Y8- it won't be a major issue and schools are used to supporting students who join mid year or after Y7.

One point to bear in mind is that state sixth form is funded to 19- most students get the chance at a retake year if they need it at this stage. If your children would be starting sixth form at 17, then they wouldn't get funding for an additional year at post-16.

Yes. My daughter is the same age as your eldest. She is going back to Y10 to retake it. We're already in the system so it's easier but it's definitely possible, especially for the younger one as they're a summer born.

You will have more luck of your kids are born April- August as they're classed as summer born and you have the right to request they start a year late. This is only a right to request, not a right to actually have this happen without question.
Try to find a 11-18 school, as they will probably look more favourably at your eldest child retaking Y10. Many secondary schools that only go to 16, only have insurance to have children aged 11-16.11 so again it depends when your child was born. This is probably changing as more and more kids are being deferred so hopefully won't cause problems.

As the younger one is born in August, I think it'll be perfectly ok for them to go into Y7 instead. Admissions might be tricky though.

Good luck getting this sorted; I agree that your eldest might be in a difficult situation if they have to go into year 11. Out of interest, back in the day we still had a "qualification" of sorts at yr 10 in NSW, albeit only with English/Maths (and later science) assessments and not remotely like GCSEs - has your eldest anything equivalent? Depending on their interests and ability it could be worth checking how they would be treated for university entry if they only did A levels in the UK - no idea if that would be realistic or a big mistake.

Which schools in Lanc are you looking at ? A few of them are in the same Multi Academy Trust.

Thanks, I really appreciate everyones comments, It’s been really useful. I’ve been able to ask different questions more assertively!
I called the council admissions back and have established which schools have places in year 9 - and therefore some likelihood of having a year 10 spot next year.
They were meant to email me back about whether my younger son can be considered ‘summer born’ and therefore automatically be an application for year 7, rather than schools discretion. Haven’t heard yet..
The schools that have places the council know about in year 9 are Central Lancaster High School, 2 schools in Morecambe , Ripley and Carnforth.
Year 7 wasn’t clear.
Central Lanc’ is the one I’d already approached to try and start discussions with. Worrying they have spaces! A post on mumsnet says something along the lines of ‘it does well with a challenging cohort’. Hopefully a cohort of ok kids too.
There is the issue someone raised - might not be ok to be older (17 when finishing) insurance wise in a school without a sixth form.
Re NSW - he won’t finish Year 10. The ‘Rosa’ does exist starting at end of yr 10 as a kind of record for kids who can’t manage HSC or leave before it. I think can be used for TAFE etc. I suppose it might count for something with University.
Thanks again. I wish I’d posted this months ago!

Central, Morecambe Bay Academy, Carnforth and Ripley are all the same Multi Academy Trust so perhaps if one school decides they'll allow a year change , they all might. Good luck. Personally I'd prefer Carnforth or Ripley over MBA and Central, if you are in the lucky position of being able to choose.

Sorry - just read that you're in discussions with central. It has a great staff, currently an acting Head as the Head has been drafted in elsewhere a few days a week.

Yes I have also known schools to agree to this for children moving from abroad who have not had the same amount of education. Eg in South Africa they start school a year or 2 later than here, so a child who moved from SA was held back a year to ensure they received the same overall amount of schooling.

Well, I’ve filled in the online form for Central which wasn’t really sensitive to my issues! Waiting a response..
Thanks for your local insights and for giving me positives about the school. As you rightly point out, it’s unlikely we’ll be in a position to choose, so a relief to hear that generally the schools in that area are ok.

Good luck. Just so you know the summer born allowance didn't start until quite recently so for example it was the year after my summer born current y6. So first year it happened was for those in y5 now.

Really push for a child to start gcse course not mid way through with a school with a 6th form- also get them thinking what gcse options they would like