Education and Schooling Tips for Families relocating to the UK (Part 1)

The UK with its over 32,000 schools has a reputation for having one of the most complex and confusing education systems when compared to other countries around the world. There is a lot for families to consider and think about. This two-part guide is designed to make the process a bit easier for mums relocating to the UK (London especially). Hopefully, after reading this you will be in a better position to make an informed decision about the education options that are the best for your family.

1. Age Requirements

In the UK children are expected to be in full-time education by the time they are 4 years old. They have to be 4 Years Old on the 1st September to begin the school year. This is called reception and they have to remain in some sort of education until at least the age of 18. After the reception, they enter year 1, 2, and 3 right through to year 13/upper sixth.

Below the age of 4, there is no legal requirement for your child to be in a formal learning environment but the vast majority of parents enroll their children in Nursery or preschool, to give them the opportunity to develop the skills they are going to need to be able to demonstrate by the time they begin school.

Below is a table that shows the ages of students in each year group.

2. Types of School 

Broadly speaking schools are divided by age and type. When considering age the vast majority of Children go to Primary school from the ages of 4 to 11, and secondary school from the age of 11-16. In the UK children must be in some form of education up until the age of 18. Children have the option to stay in their school after 16 and enter the sixth form or they can go to a college.

Sixth forms are an extension to schools, and have a more rigid and structured timetable, they focus on academic subjects needed for most universities in the form of A Levels and international baccalaureate (IB). Colleges also offer academic subjects like sixth forms but are different because they also offer more vocational subjects with different qualifications such as BTECs and NVQ qualifications.

Younger children will be in primary school and older children will be in secondary school. However, schools also differ by the type of school they are. Broadly speaking there are two types of schools:

1. State Schools: These are schools funded by the taxpayer, they can take on different variations such as Comprehensive, Academies, Faith schools, Free schools, and Grammar schools. The difference between these schools is their admission criteria, their governance, and if they receive their funding directly from the government or the local authority. They are free for students to attend.
2. Independent schools: Also known as Private schools (and for the oldest and most prestigious of boarding schools also known as public schools). These are schools that Parents pay for, via school fees which normally cost thousands of pounds per term. They can set their own admission criteria and selection process and will often have some sort of entrance exam.

You can also have state and private boarding schools where children live at school and go home during the school holidays. State boarding schools are very rare though the vast majority of the schools that offer boarding at Private schools.

The National Curriculum is an education framework that all state schools must follow. They set out what children should know and be able to do at each individual key stage throughout their development. Schools such as faith schools, and grammar schools have more flexibility about what aspects of the national curriculum they teach.

Independent schools can customise their curriculum and do not have to follow the national curriculum to the same extent as state schools many of them offer subjects and experiences that are not available to children in state schools.

Independent schools tend to be where the affluent students attend school and there is much debate around fairness and future. Students on average do significantly better in public examinations and represent a higher percentage of students that go to the top universities. Many independent schools have a slightly different structure when it comes to year groups. Pre-Prep ( Ages 3-7) Prep School (7-13) Senior School (13-18).

Virtually all schools have to take part in public examinations. GCSEs are the gateway to post-16 courses and university, after GCSEs students have the option to do very academic subjects via A Levels & IB or less academic vocational qualifications such as BTECS and NVQs. 

3. Brexit and Education

The UK’s decision to leave the European Union means that after 31st December 2020 Families moving to the UK from the European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss national children are eligible to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme. If your family is not eligible to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme, EEA and Swiss national children entering the UK after 2020 will be treated the same as other foreign nationals who only have entitlement to access free education if they fall within specific categories, that include: 

• as a dependant of a foreign national parent who has settled status in the UK
• as a dependant of their parent(s) who is in the UK on a Work visa or Student visa
• as part of a family entering and residing in the UK under the immigration route for Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BNO) and their dependents.

You can check the government website to find more information and see the full criteria to understand what you need to move to the UK.

4. School Year and School Hours

A normal school day begins between 8 am and 9 am and ends between 3 pm and 4 pm but this does not include after-school clubs and extracurricular activities, which are more commonplace at independent schools.

The School year is from September to July, it is split into three terms.

• Autumn term is from early September to mid-December.
• Spring term is from early January to late March/early April
• Summer Term is from April to mid-July

Each term is approximately 12 weeks and after the Autumn term is the Christmas holidays which are two weeks long. After the Spring term is the Easter holidays which are also two weeks long. After the Summer term is complete are the Summer holidays which are 6 weeks long.

Also during the middle of each term is a one-week break called Half term, the Autumn half term takes place in late October/ early November. The Spring Half term takes place in the middle of February and the summer half-term takes place at the end of May/Early June.

Independent schools tend to give their students longer holidays and it is becoming more common that schools both Private and State take a two-week holiday instead of a one week during the Autumn half term.

5. Catchment Areas 

A catchment area is a geographical area surrounding a school from which it will usually take most of its pupils, this doesn’t tend to affect private schools as much as state schools, especially grammar schools that have a good quality of education and high levels of attainment comparable with private schools. These schools are free to attend, and having catchment areas mean that local children have more of a chance to attend good schools in their local community.

6. House Prices

These very selective catchment areas have a bearing on house prices and drive up the cost of houses in an area where there are good schools. Parents want to send their children to the best schools to give them the best education, so parents are prepared to pay more. This creates a seller’s market where considerations such as schools and transport can mean two houses of the same size can have vastly different costs with Parents paying a premium to be closer to good schools.

These are just some of the considerations that need to be thought of when navigating the UK education system part 2 of this series will delve into:

• The application process,
• International schools,
• Where to look for a UK school plus more.

If you are relocating to the UK and need help, you can get in touch with Sam Tutoring, along with our tutoring service we offer a consultancy service that helps families with the whole process.

Samuel Adu-Gyamfi is the CEO and founder of Sam Tutoring, tutoring service and consultancy in London he founded a decade ago.

Sam Tutoring provides private one-to-one tuition along with group and online tuition for families in Central London and internationally, as well as tailor-made services for schools.

Working with students from the ages of 7-18 we provide academic support and mentorship.

Email info@samtutoring.london, to book a consultation or visit www.samtutoring.London to see how we can help your child succeed.

Read more tips by Sam tutoring here.