Moving to Scotland from Wales
Families from Wales will find the cut-off, class names and qualifications differ, but the move is common and schools are used to it.
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
- Children start Primary 1 in August rather than Reception in September; Scotland's cut-off is 1 March, Wales's is 1 September.
- Primary is P1–P7, secondary S1–S6. Places are allocated by catchment, with placing requests for other schools.
- Gaelic-medium education is available in parts of Scotland, much as Welsh-medium is in Wales.
Exams and university
- National 5s (S4) are broadly comparable to GCSEs; Highers (S5) and Advanced Highers (S6) take the place of AS and A levels.
- Scottish universities admit mainly on Highers; most honours degrees take four years.
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? England · Northern Ireland · Ireland · United States · another country