The School year in England

The school year in England goes from September 1st to August 31st. A child’s school year is determined by birthday. A pupil who is, for example, 12 on September 1st in a particular year will enter Year 7 in September that year and will be the oldest child in that class. A child one day older who is 12 on 31st August in the same year will be in the year above, will enter Year 8 in September that year and will be the youngest in the class.

Children begin compulsory schooling between September 1st and August 31st in the school year in which they turn 5. Compulsory schooling ends in Year 11, the school year in which pupils attain the age of 16.

Contact School Guidance for information on the School Year in Scotland and Ireland.

AGE	YEAR	STAGE	TESTS
3-4		NURSERY Foundation Stage
4-5	Reception	PRIMARY Foundation Stage/ Key Stage 1
5-6 6-7	Year 1 Year 2	Key Stage 1	SATs in English and maths are taken at the end of Year 2. The results are not published nationally.
7-8 8-9 9-10 10-11	Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6	Key Stage 2	SATs in English and maths are taken at the end of Year 6. The results are published nationally.
11-12 12-13 13-14	Year 7 Year 8 Year 9	SECONDARY Key Stage 3
14-15 15-16	Year 10 Year 11	Key Stage 4	At the end of Year 11 most children take GCSEs
16-17 17-18	Year 12 Year 13	Key Stage 5	AS Levels are taken at the end of Year 12 A Levels are taken at the end of Year 13 The IB is taken at the end of Year 13

KEY

SATs = Statutory Assessment Tasks
GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education
AS Level = Advanced Subsidiary Level examinations
A2 Level = Advanced Level examinations
IB = International Baccalaureate

THE SCHOOL YEAR - TERM TIMES

State schools and the majority of the independent schools operate a 3 term school year.

Most state schools have a half term holiday lasting one week in the middle of each term. Independent schools all have different half terms and term dates.

Each Local Education Authority sets its own term dates for state schools. Voluntary Aided and Foundation schools however, are allowed by law to set their own term dates which may differ from the term dates set by their Local Authority.

The following dates give a general idea of how the school year is broken into three terms.

STATE SCHOOL TERMS IN ENGLAND

Autumn Term
Early September to the third week in December
The Christmas holiday is usually two weeks long

Spring Term
Early January to around Easter
The Easter holiday is usually two weeks long

Summer Term
After Easter until the last week or second to last week in July
The summer holiday is usually about six weeks long

STATE SCHOOL START AND FINISH TIMES IN ENGLAND

Start times
Most state schools officially start at 9.00am but children are usually required to be in school a little earlier, 8.50am for Primary age children (5-11) and maybe 8.40am for secondary age children (11-18)

Finish times
Most state Primary schools end between 3.00pm and 3.45pm.
Most state Secondary schools end between 3.00pm and 4.00pm.

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