Children's Education

General Information

Like their civilian contemporaries, service personnel must make their own arrangements for the education of their children. The education of children in England and Wales is the responsibility of the Local Education Authorities (LEAs). In Scotland it is the responsibility of the Scottish Education Department and in Northern Ireland, the Department for Education in Northern Ireland (DENI). In England and Wales LEAs are required to provide full-time education for all children in the term that they become five. However, many Local Authorities will allow the child to start in the term prior to the term in which they become five. Such schools are called "Foundation" and are administered by LEAs. When service personnel move they should note that even adjacent LEAs might organise their education systems differently. For example they may or may not have middle schools, have a different age of transfer from primary to secondary schools, operate sixth form colleges or have different examination boards. LEAs will also be able to inform service personnel of the facilities available for the provision of nursery education for four year-olds and be able to supply a list of registered providers in the maintained, private and voluntary sectors.

England and Wales.
In England and Wales children are expected to attend school between the ages of 5 - 16.

Scotland.
The Scottish School System is based on two levels:

The Primary system is not divided into infant and junior although some schools take children aged 3½ years in a nursery school.

Northern Ireland.
Primary Education in Northern Ireland begins when children are 4 years of age (not 5), so that year 1 is for children who are aged 5 at the end of their first school year. Statutory schooling, therefore, encompasses 12 years in Northern Ireland, compared with 11 in England and Wales, ending at the same point, where pupils are aged 16 at the end of the school year.

Overseas.
The education of service children based overseas is the responsibility of the Service Children's Education (SCE). They are able to advise all service personnel on the education of their children both in the UK and overseas. SCE provides schooling facilities for pupils in Belize, Brunei, Cyprus, Denmark, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Germany. SCE are also responsible for the provision of help and advice to families who are about to be posted overseas or those returning to the UK from abroad. This includes advice regarding boarding schools and other possible provisions within the UK during their absence. Except for very small isolated detachments, primary schools are established in all overseas commands. Secondary school provision is available for all pupils in North West Europe and Cyprus, whether at local secondary schools on a daily basis or in boarding schools in Germany at Rheindahlen, Gütersloh and Rinteln. All secondary schools are run on comprehensive lines (there are different arrangements for secondary aged pupils whose parents are posted to Brunei). Transfer from primary to secondary schools is usually at age 11, although in some areas children will transfer at age 8 or 9 from a primary school to a middle school and again into a secondary school at age 13. For more information and contact details of SCE click here.