UK EDUCATION
T
he start of a new academic year offers a great opportunity to plan how to support your relocating families during the coming 12 months.
In the UK, more than 90 per cent of children attend state-
funded schools, and around 7 per cent attend fee-paying schools, which range from elite ‘public’ schools to independent schools charging slightly lower fees. The many relocating parents whose children attend state
schools will be reassured by the quality of this year’s recently published A-Level and GCSE results, which showed that, in many cases, the state sector had outperformed the private sector. When organising their children’s education, relocating parents
certainly have their work cut out, from negotiating the state-school admissions round in England and ensuring minimum disruption to their child’s studies when moving between different school systems, to arming themselves with the necessary paperwork. Where school applications are concerned, timing is crucial.
This can be a real problem for relocatees. In an ideal world, many schools advise applying one complete academic year in advance of entry, regardless of whether parents are applying for a school place at the start of their child’s compulsory school education or on transfer to secondary school. Many families going through the relocation process will not
be able to plan so far ahead, so it’s important for them to know the best time to approach schools. It’s worth noting, for example, when schools are in session and when they are on holiday. Unlike those of independent schools, the offices of state schools
are likely to be closed during holiday periods, and, while schools should be willing to invite parents for a tour at any time of the year, they are less likely to have access to the full range of facilities during exam times. Parents applying for state-school places will need a permanent
address in the school’s catchment area before their application can be considered. The earlier applications can be made, the better. Autumn is
a quieter time for international schools, with more opportunity to secure places than from January onwards, when waiting lists grow. It is always worth checking if there are places in the child’s year group, as other families, too, may be on the move. Terms, holidays and exam dates vary between counties and
types of school, so it’s important to check precise timings with individual schools. To speed up the application process, HR and relocation
professionals should advise families to gather their child’s school records in good time before primary and secondary school applications open in early September.
Making an application In England, the deadlines for first applications to state schools
are in October for secondary schools and January for primary schools, both for admission in the following autumn term. Parents usually apply to the local authority in which they live for places at their preferred schools, but free-school applications are made direct to the school. Relocating families may struggle to fit the pattern, and often
find themselves falling outside the normal admissions round. So-called in-year applications have suffered, in the past, from bureaucracy and delays. Launched in 2013, a new admissions code introduced an in-year
admissions process, with the aim of reducing the delays children faced in finding a school. Parents can now apply direct to schools for in- year admissions, rather than having to go through a local authority.
The government has also streamlined the primary-school
place-offer system by introducing a new national offer day on 16 April. Previously, different admissions authorities released primary-school offers on different dates. This led to confusion and frustration for parents, especially those making applications for school places in different local authorities. There was already a secondary-school national offer day, 1 March. As part of the government’s revised admissions code, parents
also have greater powers of recourse if they are concerned about an individual school’s admissions practices. Available in a few parts of the country, grammar schools, the
only state schools in England that are allowed to select pupils on academic ability, are very popular. Although each has its own admissions criteria, nearly all offers of a place are based on pupils passing a selection test known as the 11-plus. This is typically taken between the September and the February before the September in which pupils move from primary to secondary school. Many parents work hard to prepare their children for the test,
and hire tutors to give them the best chance of success. However, a high score at the test does not always guarantee a place at a grammar school, especially if it is oversubscribed.
Independent and international schools Some parents may opt for an independent or an international
fee-paying school. These typically operate a rolling admissions programme, which means that parents are free to apply for a place at any time. While these schools do not come with the complications inherent in English state-school admissions, getting the timing right and navigating the paperwork still require careful attention. Even for in-year admissions, it is a good idea to try to make a
start at the beginning of a term. This can be helpful not just from an academic but also from a psychological standpoint. If students already at the school have just finished exams or returned from a holiday, a new part of the curriculum will be beginning, and a new student can share a starting point of some kind. It is the curriculum, in large part, which sets international
schools apart from each other, attracting staff as well as students and defining, to some extent, the school ethos. For expatriate families who may be required to relocate every few years, the curriculum can be one of the few ways of providing a common thread for a child in an otherwise ever-changing school life, so it’s important to advise your relocating families to give choice of curriculum the attention it deserves. Admissions criteria for independent schools vary as much as
fees, so it’s vital to check individual requirements. Some schools will require pupils to sit an entrance exam or invite the family for interview, but others operate a first-come, first-served system and may have a long waiting list. Securing a place at a select fee-paying school in the UK is
becoming ever more competitive, as top public schools report long waiting lists and overseas students look to a British education as a stepping stone to a coveted university place. It is worth noting that the timing of entry into some of the
UK’s top public schools is structured around the completion of entrance tests and assessment days. For example, most pupils join Wellington College, in Berkshire,
when they are 13+, in what is known as Year 9. The closing date for accepting registrations is at the end of December in Year 6. This period allows for pupils to sit an entrance test in Year 6 and to attend an assessment day at the start of Year 7. Overseas candidates can take the test at a British Council or an approved testing centre.
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