If you signed an expat contract to move to the UK, then the very first thing you need to do is find a primary school. I know that sounds extreme, but it’s not. A friend mentioned the same thing to me when we told her we were moving to the UK, but I didn’t realize the serious nature of just how hard it would be to find a primary school until we were in the thick of it.
Aside from help from our UK realtor, we didn’t know where to start. We managed through it, but here you’ll find helpful resources, deadlines and even a trick or two on how to find a primary school in the UK.
When is school enrollment in the UK?
Enrollment is several months earlier than in the US, typically January for primary schools and October for secondary schools (ie, high school) of the year prior to when your child is due to start school.
Unlike the US, you aren’t zoned to a school. You must enroll by the deadline set forth by the local council in which you will live.
Check gov.co.uk for the latest information and deadline on UK school admissions.
Where will you live?
Identifying your local council leads to the next big question going through your mind: where will we live?
If you have the opportunity to go on a house-hunting trip, then you can arrange tours of the schools in which you are interested. But you need to act fast.
What’s the difference between state and private schools?
State schools in the UK are paid for by the government. The upside is that you don’t have to worry about adding this to your expat expenses. The downside is that the outstanding state schools tend to be oversubscribed. This is why you have to provide 3 choices for state schools you are interested in.
House hunting apps that help you identify the local schools and their associated ratings are Rightmove and PrimeLocation.
Both apps were super helpful when we were looking for schools to enroll our 5 and 8-year-old, but because we were trying to enroll so far past the deadline, state schools weren’t an option.
If you have only a couple of months to sort out enrolling your child in a school, then it’s likely you’ll have to go private. If this is the case, negotiate private school expenses into your expat agreement. This is crucial because private schools can range from £10,000 – £30,000 a year per child. Yes! It’s crazy.
But private schools aren’t an auto-accept if you can afford it. Even private schools are difficult to get into. If you have more than one child and a mix of boys and girls, then your options for keeping them together are even fewer. Most private schools are either all boy or all girl, but not both.
What are your must-haves for a school?
For us, keeping our children together was incredibly important so our list of options narrowed even more. Add in the importance of sport versus pure academics, and you might find that only 1 or 2 schools within an acceptable commute meet your criteria.
Once you’ve determined what factors are most critical for your child’s growth, personality, and happiness:
- Hone in on those schools available within your acceptable driving distance of the new place you’ll call home.
- Immediately contact the schools that meet your requirements.
- Be prepared to be flexible. You might have to give up 1 or 2 must-haves depending on how much leverage you have.
- If you’re trying to enroll after the deadline, don’t push too hard.
- Fill out the school forms available on the school website right away.
- Contact the headmaster.
In July 2017, about 1 month before the new school year was about to start, we had only 2 options that would accept both boys and girls and were within a 30-minute commute (that’s one-way by the way). When 1 of the schools replied with, “Sorry, we are full.” I panicked.
Make the extra effort if you’re running out of options.
I knew that I had to make it personal if we were going to have any chance of getting into the school. I sent a family photo of us at Sea World to the headmaster, begging him to accept our children.
I don’t know if sending the photo truly helped or not, but when the headmaster of our now school emailed me back with a funny joke and that he’d let his registrar respond, I felt like we had made it in.
Soon enough we were confirmed despite the fact that they were at peak with one of the year groups. They made an exception to take both children. We were so relieved.
The private school “test” that leads to getting in or not.
With private schools, there is an extra step.👇🏻
Your child is tested prior to a formal written acceptance letter.
By test, I mean that your child spends the day in the classroom but is observed and tested to ensure the school is a right fit. If you are moving abroad, I believe this is more of a formality, but I did get nervous on our children’s first day.
Obviously, everything went fine but beware of this step because nothing could be worse than thinking you made it only to discover “the school isn’t a good fit for your child”.
Once the school registrar has informed you there is space, complete the registration. Make sure you email documents in advance, have digital copies for back-up and bring paper copies with you in your flight luggage for the first day of school.
Steps for private school enrollment:
1 – Complete the school’s registration forms and attach a recent photograph.
2 – Complete the school’s medical questionnaire.
3 – Provide your child’s recent school or educational reports.
4 – Bring copies of the child’s birth certificate to the first day of school.
Cool Bonus: You do not need to provide immunization records.
Lastly, you want your child to be in a good school so that they can pick up as though they had never left when you return to the states. But more importantly, you want your kids to be happy and feel like they belong.
Make sure you understand the school’s values, personality and how the school disciplines so it mirrors your own beliefs. Once your child is in, you aren’t going to want to do it all over again.
UK state schools are great options too.
Even though we have a couple of outstanding state schools within walking distance of our house, changing the school on our kids now would crush them. They finally feel settled, have made lots of new friends, love their curriculum and feel like they belong. That took some time but we know they are in the right place.
If the UK is in your future, then research now so that you have an idea of what type of schools are offered, costs (if any), and deadlines so that you are prepared to find a primary school in the UK without all the added stress.
And if you don’t have the benefit of time, then let me assure you that you will find a primary school in the UK. Just make it a priority on your list of moving tasks and email the headmasters of interest directly.
If we were able to find an excellent primary school in the UK at warp speed, you can too.
Helpful UK School Resources:
- UK Schools and Education
- Apply for a Primary School Place
- Apply for a Secondary School Place
- Private Schools and Inspection Reports
Looking for more expat moving resources? Try these.
- Simplify moving to the UK with this expat guide 👉🏻Moving Abroad Checklist
- Moving Abroad Checklist: How To Move To Another Country
- Moving Abroad Checklist: How To Move The Family & Dog (& Quick, Too!)
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