Moving to Scotland from England
The biggest surprises for families from England are the different birthday cut-off, how school places are allocated, and Highers instead of A levels.
Which class would my child be in?
Guidance only: the school and council make the final placement decision. Cut-offs: Scotland 1 March, England and Wales 1 September, Northern Ireland 2 July.
What's different
- There is no Reception class. Children start Primary 1 in August, aged about 4½ to 5½. Scotland's cut-off is 1 March, England's is 1 September, so the class names don't line up exactly.
- Primary school is seven years (P1–P7) and secondary is six (S1–S6).
- You don't rank schools on an application. Each address has a catchment school (often one non-denominational and one Catholic); to choose another you make a placing request.
- The school year starts in mid-August and summer holidays begin around late June or early July.
Exams and university
- National 5s are usually sat in S4, broadly comparable to GCSEs.
- Highers are sat in S5 and are the main qualification Scottish universities admit on. Advanced Highers in S6 are broadly comparable to A levels.
- Most Scottish honours degrees take four years. Students from England usually pay tuition fees at Scottish universities.
Getting a school place
- Find your catchment school for the exact address you will live at (it may not be the nearest school).
- Contact the council's education department, or the school, to enrol. Councils usually ask for proof of address and your child's birth certificate or passport; some only enrol once you are living there.
- For a different school, make a placing request to the council. For an August start, councils usually take these between December and February.
- If a placing request is refused, you can appeal, usually within 28 days.
General guidance, not an admissions decision or a formal comparison of qualifications. Moving from somewhere else? Wales · Northern Ireland · Ireland · United States · another country