Updated: Added link to information for families relocating to Stafford during the Summer of 2015 under the Borona Project.
Overview
Children’s Education Advisory Service (CEAS) is a tri-service organisation funded by the MOD. It was established to provide information and support to Service families and eligible MOD civilians on all aspects of the education of their children in the UK and overseas.
When children move frequently from one school to another or between different educational systems obtaining appropriate provision can be complex.
CEAS provides information and advice as well as supporting parents at meetings with schools, local authorities, at tribunal etc. No question is too small or too large for us to deal with. If we don’t know the answer ourselves we usually know someone who does.
The Head of Service is Olivia Denson who is assisted by Jeremy Watt, Deputy Head of Service. Both have experience of working at a senior level in schools as well as working in local authorities. Susan Wright and Peter Flood are Parent Support Officers based in the Upavon office and Bernadette Lynch is a Parent Partnership Officer based in Germany. They all have extensive experience of working in education.
CEAS also has a Business Manager, 2 Executive Officers and 6 Helpline Operators. All of our staff have considerable experience of advising Service parents on a wide range of issues regarding Service children’s education.
Contact CEAS
The CEAS Helpline is manned from 8.30am to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday. At other times, or when the helpline is busy, messages can be left on the answer machine or sent via email. Please ensure that your name, the name and date of birth of the child (if appropriate) and your contact details are left slowly and clearly.
Children's Education Advisory Service
Trenchard Lines
Upavon, Pewsey
Wiltshire
SN9 6BE
Telephone: 01980 618 244 (Military 94 344 8244)
Email: enquiries@ceas.uk.com
CEA Governance Team
CEAGT, SPVA, Room G18
Innsworth House
Imjin Barracks
Innsworth
Gloucester GL3 1HW
Telephone: 01452 712 612 extn 5693
Fax: 01452 718 471 (Military GPTN 95471 5471)
Education
CEAS provides a dedicated service exclusively for service and MOD families providing professional advice about all aspect of children’s education both in the UK and Overseas.
CEAS has 13 full time advisors to answer queries via telephone, email or in person. CEAS provides the best advice available, free of charge, to all service parents irrespective of rank or location.
All 4 devolved areas in the UK have their own arrangements for providing and choosing the curriculum, and monitoring their education services. An overview of education service provision in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland has been provided with useful contact numbers and links.
If you choose for your child to be educated outside of the state system your family may be entitled to help with Continuity of Education fees. Overseas education is dependent on the area you are posted to.
Boarding education
The MOD provides an allowance for entitled service personnel to educate their children at a boarding school.
Continuity of education allowance application process
With effect from 29 September 2011 CEAS will no longer issue CEA Eligibility Certificates. The new CEA Governance Team will be taking on this responsibility. DIN 2011 DIN01-195 refers. Initial claimants and those renewing their eligibility must still come to CEAS for issue of the application form
The allowance is called the ‘Continuity of Education Allowance’ (CEA) and is to help provide continuity of education for a child and enable the spouse of a service person to accompany them on postings. The allowance is available for children of 8 years of age and over. If you are interested in claiming this allowance you should check your eligibility with your pay office.
The costs of boarding schools can vary greatly and you are expected to contribute a minimum of 10% towards the fees. The fees are only part of the costs and you need to be clear what extras the school charges for. There is a junior and senior CEA and which allowance you are eligible for depends on the fee structure of the school you choose. The junior and senior rates are not related to your rank.
If you have a child who has been boarding for at least a year you may be able to have a day place and claim a day allowance. This would be on the understanding that when you were posted away from the area your child would revert back to full boarding and you would continue with an accompanied posting.
There are many types of boarding school to cater for different age ranges, different abilities and different interests. Most boarding schools are Independent and you can find out more about them by visiting the Independent Schools Council. There are also a number of state boarding schools which provide excellent value for money because they are only allowed to charge for accommodation costs and not tuition costs. For more information on these school visit the State Boarding School Association website.
To claim CEA you must contact CEAS to obtain advice and the relevant application form. CEA (Board) Forms cannot be downloaded from this, or any other, website.
Day School Allowance (North Wales)
Day School Allowance (North Wales) (DSA (NW)) is available to service families who are serving in an established post in an eligible unit and are resident within the counties of Gwynedd Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire or the Isle of Anglesey and who meet all the criteria for payment of CEA. It is specifically designed to allow the children who move to North Wales following a posting to attend an independent day school as an alternative to a state day school which is operating the bilingual teaching policy. There is no requirement for claimants to pay the 10% parental contribution which applies to CEA. For more information contact your new unit.
Special educational needs
If your child has special educational needs and is eligible for CEA, they may be entitled to the Special Educational Needs Addition (SENA). This is a supplement to CEA payable to a Service parent. It is intended to assist towards the higher fees normally payable at specialist independent schools that have appropriate educational facilities. Contact us for further details.
Guardian’s allowance
If your child attends a day school while living with a relative or guardian, you may claim a guardian’s allowance. The provision for claiming the allowance is the same as for claiming a CEA. The allowance is not payable if your child is living at home with you.
Children’s visits to parents serving overseas
Children up to the age of 18 years at school in UK are entitled to 3 free return journeys a year to visit their parents serving on accompanied tours overseas. A child over 18, but under 21, who is receiving full-time education is entitled to one free return journey a year. Apply for these visits through your overseas unit. If the child is registered as having Special Needs with CEAS you will be eligible for an additional visit per year at public expense.
Continuity of education allowance application process
The aim of Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) is to assist Service personnel to achieve continuity of education for their child(ren) that would otherwise be denied in the maintained school sector if their child(ren) accompanied them on frequent assignments both at home and overseas. In claiming CEA, a Service person must fully accept that accompanied service is the overriding principle for maintaining entitlement. An exception to this requirement is those Service personnel classified as Involuntarily Separated (INVOLSEP). Advice on this can be sought from CEAS.
To ensure that Service personnel have considered all the requirements of JSP 752, Chapter 9, and have been advised on the best options for the education of their child(ren) all Service personnel MUST contact CEAS for advice before an initial claim for CEA is submitted or when any change of school is being planned.
On completion of the advice process CEAS will provide each Service person with CEA Eligibility Certificate application form.
With effect from 29th September 2011 CEA Eligibility Certificate applications and renewal applications must be sent to the CEA Governance Team (CEAGT) at Imjin Barracks, Innsworth, when it has been completed at Parts 1 through to 3 by the appropriate authorities. The CEAGT will conduct a thorough audit of the application and will complete Part 4 of the form. They will issue the authorised CEA Eligibility Certificate to the claimant which is to be forwarded to the unit HR admin staff prior to the authorisation of an initial claim in any new school for each child. The certificate is to be retained by the Service person to be produced as and when requested for audit / eligibilty purposes for the duration of the child’s attendance at that school.
Further advice and information on the CEA Eligibility Certificate application process can be sought in DIN 2011 DIN01-195 and JSP 752 Ch 9.
A CEA Eligibility Certificate must be completed by the claimant when a child starts or changes school, at the beginning of each new assignment, on a change of P Stat Category or when the certificate is 3 years old.
Education in the UK
In the UK, responsibilty for the making of education law and guidance has been devolved to the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh and Irish Assemblies. In England, legislative responsibility for education continues to lie solely with the UK Parliament at Westminster.
Structural and other differences between the four ‘home’ countries have existed for a long time but the more recent formal devolution of statutory responsibility for education law to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has not only emphasised existing differences but continued to establish further ones.
Service families moving around the U.K. often find themselves in confusing situations resulting from these differences. These differences may relate to a number of factors:
differences in age ranges of phases of education
different examination and assessment systems
different curricular structure and content
different admission systems
different statutory approaches to meeting children’s special educational / additional support needs.
higher education funding routes and arrangements.
In 2006, the House of Commons Defence Committee, in an enquiry into the education of Service children, expressed concern about some of the difficulties experienced by Service families as they moved around and in and out of the U.K. This concern led to a recommendation, adopted by the MoD that a forum should be established within which the MoD and officials from each of the four ‘home’ education ministries work together to find ways to mitigate the difficulties experienced by Service families in this context. The Forum is called the Service Children’s Education Forum (SCEF).
Service families concerned about or experiencing difficulties with moves around or in and out of any of the four ‘home’ countries should contact CEAS for information, advice or support. Any relevant information you can provide about your experience(s) of these issues is also useful to CEAS in its role as a member of SCEF.
Education overseas
If you are offered an overseas posting you will have to look carefully into the education available for your children.
The type and quality of education available will differ from country to country and often from one part of a country to another. Remember that what is right for one child is not necessarily right for another and the age and ability of your child will have an effect on your decision. The opportunity for a child to be educated in a different system and different culture can have tremendous advantages but you will have to weigh up carefully the advantages and disadvantages.
Education overseas can be roughly divided into four different types. There are areas where we have our own MOD schools provided through Service Children’s Education, countries that are predominantly English speaking, countries that are non English speaking but where you have access to English speaking International schools and non English speaking countries where the only option is to attend the local school.
Service Children’s Education (SCE)
SCE provides primary schools in parts of Germany, Cyprus, Belize, The Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and Brunei, Belguim, Italy and The Netherlands. There are also some middle schools and in Germany and Cyprus there are some secondary schools. In Germany some of the secondary schools provide weekly boarding so that if you live too far away for daily travel your child can board and come home to you at weekends.
SCE schools follow the English education system as closely as possible. Children take the key stage tests the same as in England and the schools are inspected by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). Inspection reports can be found on the Ofsted website. SCE does not provide Special schools and cannot always provide the same level of support as that found in English schools. If you are offered an overseas posting, and your child has special educational needs, you must contact us to check if your child’s needs can be met.
Further information on SCE schools can be found on the SCE website.
English speaking schools
If you are posted to an English speaking country your child will be able to attend the local state school. The school will follow the curriculum of that country and the English national curriculum will not be available. If there is a more appropriate independent day school available locally you may be eligible for an allowance to help you with the cost of the fees. Although your child will not be taught the English national curriculum every system has its own strengths which may more than compensate.
Non English speaking schools
If you are posted to a country where the local schools teach in a language other than English your child may be able to attend one of these schools. There is an allowance to help your child learn the local language but the provision available varies from country to country. The English national curriculum will not be available. Your child will need to have a real interest in languages if he/she is going to thrive in one of these schools.
International schools
International schools are independent schools which can sometimes be found in non English speaking countries. These schools cater for the international community and the main language is usually English. In some of the International schools the curriculum follows the same pattern as in England but in others they may follow other systems such as the USA system. If there is an International school close to where you are posted you may be able to claim an allowance to attend the school.
Boarding schools
If you decide that there is no suitable schooling for your child at the overseas posting you might want to consider boarding in the UK. The Continuity of Education Allowance is available for eligible service personnel to help them with the cost of boarding education. Look at the Boarding School page for more information.
Moving schools
Moving schools can be difficult; there are a number of issues you may need to think about before you move.
It is advisable to start planning early to give more time to resolve problems. We have included some basic descriptions of the education systems of each of the devolved administrations. SCE provision, where it exists, follows the English model.
If your child is at a critical time in their education, i.e. GCSE, AS or A Level years, you may be able to retain your house in Service Families Accommodation. Contact your housing provider for further information and we can advise you further.
Staffordshire County Council have published guidance for families relocating to Stafford during the Summer of 2015 under the Borona Project.
Basic steps to follow
Find out details of schools in the new location; contact the local HIVE, who produce education Fact Sheets and will have information on the local educational establishments. Moving school packs are available to help you support your child when moving from one school to another, both in the UK and overseas.
Many schools now have their own website. If possible, arrange to visit schools, inspection reports do not tell you whether the school will be suitable for your child. Inform the old school (if appropriate) that your child will be moving, this helps their planning (do not worry, if you do not move you will not lose your place in the school). Apply as soon as possible for your preferred school, there are different systems for each area with some schools such as foundation schools not under the admissions control of the Local Authority (LA). The LA will be able to advise you further. The sooner you apply the sooner any problems can be sorted out. Do remember that although the law in England allows you to state a preference it does not require the LA to allocate your preferred school. The systems for allocation of school places in Scotland and Northern Ireland differs so see the relevant pages for more detail.
If you are not satisfied with the school place offered, you may appeal. We can offer advice on the process, help in the wording of the appeal and may be able to attend the appeal. However, before appealing do look at the school being offered as it may satisfy your requirements. If your child is affected by different starting ages between Northern Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland you should contact the school in the first instance, speaking to the Headteacher may sort any possible problems out. If not then you should contact the local education departments or boards, contact us for further advice or speak to the local School Liaison Officer.
Special Education Needs (SEN)
If your child has Special Educational Needs then you are advised to register with CEAS. We can help in the transfer process between LAs, ensuring that the needs of your child are met. If you are posted overseas and have a child with Special Educational Needs you must inform us. Although Service Children’s Education (SCE) schools will try and meet the needs of your child they cannot cover all Special Educational Needs. If you arrive without having contacted CEAS you may find you are returned to the UK at your own expense if they cannot meet your child’s needs.
Boarding school
Some parents may wish to consider boarding school for their child to ensure continuity of education. A Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) is available which can cover up to 90% of fees. There are special rules on this allowance, see our boarding school information and ask your pay office to explain. We can also advise you.
Education overseas
Service Children’s Education (SCE) can provide you with information regarding what is available for your child overseas. SCE provides schooling facilities in Belize, Brunei, Cyprus, Netherlands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Italy, Belgium and Germany. Local information can also be found at the around the world services website.
SCE schools are intended to, as far as possible, provide the same pattern of education as that provided in England and Wales. This may not be the pattern your child has previously experienced. Where no schools exist other types of educational provision may be available. Contact us for help and advice.
Staffordshire County Council have published guidance for families relocating to Stafford during the Summer of 2015 under the Borona Project.
Service children in state schools
The Service Children in State Schools (SCISS) Working Group was set up at the request of the DfES to look into the issues and concerns, including mobility and funding, that were being raised by Headteachers of state schools with Service children in the United Kingdom.
The group meet on a regular basis. The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), Ministry of Defence (MOD) and CEAS, as well as a number of Headteachers from all sectors of education are members of the group.
A wide range of issues and concerns have been identified. These include; Identification of good practice, research, communication and funding. A Service Children in State Schools handbook for schools with Service children has been produced and is available. Another, complimentary, resource for both parents and schools has been produced by SCE on the issues relating to Service deployment. This can be accessed by clicking the link in ‘External Links’ and creating an account on the Deployment Resources Home page.
Service children in state schools handbook
The Service Children in State Schools handbook for schools is intended to be a supportive resource, written largely by practitioners in schools for their peers.
It is intended to be interactive in the sense that it can be amended to incorporate suggestions to improve the Handbook, examples of good practice from users and used to facilitate communication between schools and local authorities with similar needs.
Olivia Denson: Head of CEAS
Olivia Denson has been Head of CEAS since its formation in September 04. Prior to that she was a Senior Education Officer with SCE(UK).
Before joining the MOD, Olivia worked in Essex LEA as Principal Officer SEN after a period of time as an Area Education Officer. She was an Adviser (SEN) in Leicestershire, a post which she was invited to take up after teaching in Leicestershire Secondary Schools.
Until recently she was a registered OfSTED Inspector (Science and SEN) and is a member of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services.
Jeremy Watt: CEAS Education Officer
Jeremy has been an Education Officer with CEAS since 2003. Initially, he had a territorial responsibility for eastern and northern England but he assumed the role of Deputy Head of CEAS in May 2007.
Prior to joining CEAS, Jeremy taught English for nine years in a comprehensive school in the eastern suburbs of London and, by the time he left the classroom, he was a Year Head in what is now Key Stage 3 (the first two years of secondary education in England). He left teaching, via Hull University, for a career in educational administration in two local authorities in England. He held responsibilities, for over twelve years, for services in the areas of special educational needs, child protection, education welfare, admissions to schools and exclusions from schools. He is a member of the newly constituted Association of Directors of Children’s Services.
Admissions criteria in England
Each year group in each school has an admissions number, published by the admissions authority. This is the number of children in the year group up to which the school must admit children before it can refuse to offer a place to a child.
If a school has a place available in a year group, it must be offered to an appropriate applicant, subject to a small number of exceptional circumstances (e.g. the child had been permanently excluded from school on more than one occasion).
When a school receives a number of applications in excess of the number of places available (if there are places available), it must decide which children are admitted to the school only on the basis of ‘admission’ or ‘over-subscription’ criteria.
These criteria will vary from school to school and from area to area but will relate, generally, to factors such as:
catchment/defined/designated areas for the school
distance from home to school
the existence of brothers and/or sisters on the school roll
the local primary school previously attended by the child;
(for faith schools only) evidence, certified by an appropriate minister/priest, of involvement in church life.
These examples are not exhaustive.
Admission criteria are always set out in priority order (i.e. children matching the higher criteria always have a stronger claim to places than those matching the lower criteria).
All admission authorities should place ‘looked after’ children (those in public care) and children with Statements of special educational needs at the top of their list of criteria.
You must never assume that an address near to a school will secure a place for your child or even give him/her a significant advantage over other applicants. Criteria other than distance between home and school may come higher on an admission authority’s list of criteria and, even in those areas where catchment areas operate (not everywhere), the borders of such areas are drawn to take account of a range of local factors, not simply the distances between local homes and the school(s) concerned.
Infant class size limits
Parents of children in the Key Stage 1 age range (4-7) can have an additional problem to contend with in finding a suitable school place. Paragraph 2:62 of the School Admissions Code states:
Infant classes must not contain more than 30 pupils with a single school teacher
This is not guidance but a legal requirement. Although the law still allows parents to appeal for places in Key Stage 1 provision, a panel hearing such an appeal may only find in parents’ favour in a small number of very limited circumstances.
If you want to appeal for a Key Stage 1 place, you are strongly advised to contact the CEAS Helpline to seek advice before embarking on the appeal process. It is very difficult to win such appeals.
Age ranges of schools in England
Whilst the age range 5 to 16 is consistent across England for the statutory provision of education to children and young people, the different age ranges for schools both between and within English local authorities presents a complex and confusing picture. The options which may be available in your area are set out below. Please note that some local authorities offer two or more age range systems for schools within their boundaries.
First/infant school
ages 4+ to 7 (excluding any pre-school provision)
Junior mixed infant/primary school
ages 4+ to 11 (excluding any pre-school provision)
Junior school
ages 7 to 11
Middle school
ages 8/9 to 11/12/13 (N.B. If a middle school is ‘deemed primary’, it offers a primary school curriculum throughout its age range; if it is ‘deemed secondary’, it provides a transition, throughout its age range, from a primary to a secondary curriculum)
Secondary/ high schools
ages 11/12/13 to 16/18
Sixth form colleges
ages 16 to 18
In England the secondary phase of education offers a bewildering array of different types of school, not all of which are available everywhere. These types of school include
Comprehensive schools
such schools admit and provide for children of all abilities except those who have Statements of Special Educational Need indicating that the children concerned require provision only available in Special Schools offering provision exclusively for children with Statements. The majority of State-maintained secondary schools are comprehensive in nature.
Specialist schools
these are comprehensive schools which are allowed to admit up to 10% of their intake each year on the basis of the applicants’ aptitude in the specialist subject(s) offered by the school. Such specialism may include sport, the visual and performing arts and modern foreign languages. There are also a small number of junior / primary schools which have been awarded specialist status.
Selective (Grammar) Schools
these schools are able to admit only those pupils who demonstrate, through tests taken prior to places being offered (e.g. the 11+), that they have the required ability to cope with the school’s academic demands. Selective Schools are not available in all local authorities and, nationally, they are comparitively few in number, consequently, such schools are almost always heavily over-subscribed.
City Technology Colleges (CTC)
the 1988 Education Act enabled some secondary schools to establish themselves as CTCs. 14 were established between 1988 and 1993. CTCs operate outside of local authority management arrangements and are funded direct by the Department of Education and partnership with sponsorship which they had to secure before their CTC status was granted. CTCs are comprehensive schools with a specific focus on science and technology. The Department for Education is encouraging all CTCs to become Academies.
Academies
these schools are ‘independent’ comprehensive state schools. They are set up by independent sponsors but with the backing of their local authorities. They all have specialist school status in one or more subjects.
Special schools
only two groups of children may be placed in special schools: those with completed Statements of Special Educational Needs for who such placements are deemed appropriate and those without Statements whose needs have become so severe and complex that they are placed in such schools for the purposes of assessment. Additionally, an increasing number of special schools are applying for and being awarded ‘specialist status’. This status confirms a specialism /specialims in a range of subjects and special needs areas. Age ranges of special schools vary considerably; some offer 3 to 19 provision on the same site albeit with clear structural separation within the organisation of the school. Others are solely primary or secondary special schools. Each local authority offers a different pattern of provision.
As you can see, even this is not straightforward! If you are not sure about the arrangements in the area relevant to you, always contact your local authority available through the Department for Education website.
Infant class size limits
Parents of children in the Key Stage 1 age range (4 to 7) can have an additional problem to contend with in finding a suitable school place. Paragraph 2:62 of the School Admissions Code states:
‘Infant classes must not contain more than 30 pupils with a single school teacher.’
This is not guidance but a legal requirement. Although the law still allows parents to appeal for places in Key Stage 1 provision, a panel hearing such an appeal may only find in parents’ favour in a small number of very limited circumstances.
If you want to appeal for a Key Stage 1 place, you are strongly advised to contact the CEAS Helpline to seek advice before embarking on the appeal process. It is very difficult to win such appeals.
Admissions criteria in Scotland
Helpful information about finding and securing places in state-maintained schools in Scotland is available in a publication called ‘Choosing a School - A Guide for Parents’. It can be found on the Scottish Government Website. Information is also available on each Scottish local authority’s website.
Generally speaking, parents do not appear to have, in Scotland, the same number of difficulties they may have securing school places in England.
If you have any difficulty in obtaining access to the relevant information or in securing a school place in Scotland, please contact CEAS.
Details of schools in Scotland can be found at Scottish Schools Online.
Applying for a school place
In Scotland, contacting local schools direct is usually the best way to start to secure school places. Most children in Scotland attend their local schools. However, if you want to send your child to a council school other than your local one you must tell your council. You must put your request in writing. In Scotland it is called a ‘placing request’
Appeals
If your placing request is refused you may appeal against it, except for refusals of nursery school places and refusal of places in primary school when your child is under school age.
If you do wish to appeal against a refusal of placing request you must do this quickly, if you do not tell the appeal committee within the time allowed by the law you may lose your right to appeal.
For more details see the Scottish Executive’s booklet ‘Choosing a School - A Guide for Parents’ on how to appeal. We will be able to give you help and advice in this process.
Admissions in Wales
Applications for school places
The composite prospectus published by each local authority gives details of the admission arrangements for local schools. Each prospectus will provide information about how to apply for school places.
Arrangements for admission to State Maintained Schools in Wales are very similar to those in England and are governed by the Welsh School Admission Code (revised 2009). Non-Welsh speaking families should be aware that some schools in Wales teach mainly or entirely in Welsh. Any such family faced with this situation should contact CEAS (see contacts link) for information and advice.
Parents seeking school places in Wales have a statutory right to express a preference or more than one preference for a school place. Admission authorities for schools must usually meet expressed preferences for schools if there are places available in the appropriate year group. Unless a small number of limited exceptions apply, the only basis upon which requests for places my be turned down is the year group in question having already reached its published admission number (i.e. the year group is full).
If admission authorities refuse to offer a place they must do so in writing, give reasons for the refusal and inform parents of their right to appeal and how to obtain access to the appeals’ process.
Appeals
Except in a limited number of circumstances, any parent whose child is refused a school place in the appropriate year group has the right to an independent appeal. A parent may, if they wish, appeal for places in more than one school simultaneously.
Parents are advised to contact CEAS (see contacts link) for information and advice about admission appeals.
Appeals for school places in Welsh State Maintained Schools are governed by the Schools Admission Appeals Code (revised 2009).
Applying for a school place in England
You should always make a written application for a school place and a school or admissions authority (school governing body or local authority) should always reply in writing.
If it is not possible for the admissions authority to offer your child a school place, the written reply should always, briefly, set out the reasons for that refusal and offer you the right of appeal against the decision not to offer your child a place. This form of reply is a legal requirement.
Make sure you adhere to any timescales indicated in the admissions’ literature relating to the schools for which you make applications.
If you are applying for a place in advance of your move to a new area, you may find that the admissions’ authority is reluctant to hold a place for your child if there is one available at the time of application.
This is a tricky issue; the ‘School Admissions Code’ makes it clear that admissions’ authorities can hold places for individual children in advance of their arrival but it does not give any indication of the amount of time for which it would be reasonable so to do.
If you are in a situation like this, please contact our Helpline for advice.
Faith schools, at the time of application, may specify additional information they require from you regarding you and/or your child’s commitment to the relevant faith.
Selective schools will require your child to sit the selection tests for that school or local authority area before considering your application.
Specialist schools that offer a percentage of their places on the basis of applicants’ aptitude for a particular subject, may ask for evidence of that aptitude or require your child to be tested for it.
Appealing for a school place in England
Guidance to families on the process of appealing for a school place in England.
Only once you have written to apply for a school place and the admissions authority has written back to turn down your application, giving reasons, are you in a position to proceed with an appeal.
The admissions authority must, in its letter rejecting your application, tell you how to proceed with an appeal. Always follow the instructions given to you in this letter.
If the admissions authority does not provide, in its letter of rejection, any information about obtaining access to the appeals’ process, it is breaking the law and you should ask for this information to be given to you.
Some, but not all, admissions’ authorities operate waiting lists for each year group of a school. You can ask for your child to be placed on a school’s waiting list. However, you must be aware that a child’s place on such a list is determined by how closely, in relation to the other children on the list, they match the published admission criteria for the school, not by the length of time for which they have been on it. A child added to the list after your child may better match the criteria and, as a result, your child will go down the list. Placing your child on a waiting list will not affect your right to appeal.
Usually, you will be asked to state, in writing, your intention to appeal and to send this to the Clerk to the Appeals’ Panel either at the school or the local authority, depending on the type of school involved. The Clerk will probably send you a form to complete and some information and instructions regarding the appeals’ process. At this point, you are strongly advised to contact our Helpline for advice and support.
Admission appeals should be heard within 30 school days (i.e. not counting weekends, bank and school holidays) of you submitting your completed appeal form/paperwork to the Clerk, so it is vital that you stick to any deadlines given to you.
Essentially, an admissions appeals’ panel has two decisions to make. Firstly, it has to decide whether or not the admissions’ authority has proved its case (i.e. is the school really full in the relevant year group?) and secondly, if the answer to the first question is, ‘Yes, the school really is full in that year group’, whether or not your case outweighs that put by the admissions’ authority.
In the paperwork you receive from the clerk, you will be asked to make a written statement in support of your appeal. At this stage, you will not have seen the written statement that will be made to the panel by the admissions authority. It is vital that you make your statement as strong as possible. What you write must always be true but you can make any argument that you think is relevant to your appeal.
We have devised a prompt sheet that you may find helpful in putting together your appeal statement. Our staff will be happy to look at any draft appeal statement you prepare and to make suggestions, if necessary, for improvement.
Once you have submitted your completed appeal form and statement, the clerk should next inform you, given the 30 school day timescale, of the date, time and place of the appeal hearing.
Sometimes, this information will arrive together with the admissions’ authority’s written statement to the panel but they may arrive separately. You should always be provided with a copy of the admissions’ authority’s written statement a few days before the hearing.
If we (or any other party) is going to attend the hearing with you, you should inform the clerk of this fact prior to the date of the hearing.
N.B. We strongly urge Service parents to attend appeal hearings unless it is impossible to do so. For those of you posted overseas and for whom a return to the U.K. to attend an appeal is impossible, we may be able to represent you at the hearing. If you are in this situation, please contact our Helpline as soon as possible.
As soon as you receive a copy of the admissions’ authority’s statement, please find the quickest possible way to send a copy to us.
We and our partners hope to be able to support/represent as many Service parents as possible in appeal hearings; prior sight of all the papers is crucial if the effectiveness of this support is to be maximised. However, even if such support is not available on the day of the hearing, our staff will be happy to give you advice about exploiting, at the hearing, any weaknesses there may be in the authority’s case.
It is very important that you read carefully any information sent to you about the appeal. Although the components of the appeal hearing are broadly the same wherever you are in England, there are legitimate local variations.
Curriculum in Wales
Throughout your child’s school life, he or she will follow the National Curriculum, which has been designed to provide a firm foundation in language, mathematics and science, and to provide children between the ages of 5 and 16 with the opportunity to achieve their best within a broad and balanced curriculum.
Your child will follow the National Curriculum through four Key Stages of his or her compulsory school life, two in primary school and two in secondary school. These are:
Key Stage 1: from 5 to 7 years of age - school years 1 and 2
Key Stage 2: from 7 to 11 years of age - school years 3 to 6
Key Stage 3: from 11 to 14 years of age - school years 7 to 9
Key Stage 4: takes pupils to the age of 16 - years 10 and 11.
Key Stage 1
Key Stage 1 is made up of the following subjects: English, Welsh, History, Geography, Mathematics, Music, Science, Design and Technology, Information Technology, Art and Physical Education.
English (which is not compulsory for 5 to 7 year olds in Welsh-speaking schools or classes), Welsh, Mathematics and Science are known as the core subjects and your child will be assessed on her or her performance in them at the end of Key Stage 1 by his or her own teacher.
Key Stage 2
At Key Stage 2 (from ages 7 to 11) the National Curriculum in Wales is made up of the same subjects as Key Stage 1.
Welsh is taught as first language (and is treated as a core subject) in Welsh speaking schools or classes and as a second language in other schools or classes.
English, Welsh (where appropriate), Mathematics and Science are known as the core subjects and are the subject of statutory assessments consisting of Teacher Assessments and National Curriculum Tests (often referred to as SATs).
Children are also taught Religious Education according to the syllabus laid down by the local authority.
Each school has documents which set out the National Curriculum requirements and the local syllabus for Religious Education, the school deciding its own curriculum.
Key Stage 3
At Key Stage 3 the National Curriculum in Wales is made up of the following subjects: English, Welsh, Mathematics, Science, Design and Technology, Information Technology, History, Geography, Music, Art, Physical Education and Modern Foreign Languages.
All of the National Curriculum subjects are the subject of statutory teacher assessments and the core subjects of English, Welsh (as a first language), Mathematics and Science are assessed by National Curriculum Tests.
As for Key Stage 2, Children are also taught Religious Education according to the syllabus laid down by the local authority.
Key Stage 4
At Key Stage 4 the National Curriculum in Wales is made up of only the following five subjects: English, Welsh, Mathematics, Science and Physical Education. The Welsh language is a compulsory GCSE.
Children must also study Religious Education according to the syllabus laid down by the local authority and all schools are required to provide some provide some personal and social, work related and sex education.
At the end of KS4 pupils may sit for a number of examinations which include the Welsh Baccalaureate, GCSEs and vocational courses.
If you are moving to the counties Gwynedd, Flintshire or the Isle of Anglesey of where the bilingual schools policy is in operation, then visit our boarding school page for details of the North Wales Day Allowance.
Education in Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland the academic year runs from the beginning of July to the end of June, this means if your child is 4yrs old on or before 1 July they will start school that year. The Department for Education for NI (DENI) will make exceptions for Service children. Schools will have the flexibility to put your child into the same year group as they would be in England.
The education system is centrally administered by the Department of Education and locally by 5 Education and Library Boards:
Belfast Education and Library Board
North Eastern Education and Library Board
South Eastern Education and Library Board
Southern Education and Library Board
Western Education and Library Board
Your HIVE will have further information on which Board is responsible for your area and on local schools.
Types of schools
In Northern Ireland there is a selective system of education and at the age of 11 pupils take a transfer test to determine whether they will go to a grammar school. There are several types of schools at both primary and secondary levels:
Controlled schools, looked after by the Education and Library Boards
Voluntary Maintained schools, mainly under Roman Catholic management
Grant maintained integrated schools that take children of any religious denomination
Check with your Local Education and Library boards for information on schools, and their admission criteria. For more information please contact us
Choosing a school
When choosing a nursery place or school for your child there are several sources of information to help you make your decision. Visit the school (if possible):
check out the school’s resources and the children’s work
ask how the school involves parents
would it suit your child?
Many schools hold open days and evenings where you can meet the staff and see children’s work or you could make an appointment to visit the school at another time, and ask to talk to the Head teacher. Your Local Education and Library board produces a booklet listing all the schools in your area.
Copies of secondary schools’ prospectuses are available on request directly from the schools. These contain a lot of information on how the school is run, what it offers to its students and the admissions policy. Many schools now have their own website.
Performance and examinations
The Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) is responsible for assessment of pupils at Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 and accreditation of Records of Achievement.
CCEA conducts public examinations such as GCSE, GCE, Certificate of Education Achievement (CoEA) and Graded Objectives in Modern Languages (GOML) for students aged 16 to 19 and beyond. It also administers the Transfer Test. For information on the Curriculum please view our NI National Curriculum page.
Education in Scotland
Under Section 32 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, children born between September and February have the option of starting school either in the August preceding their fifth birthday or of deferring to the next August. Children born between March and August must start school in the year that they become five. Thus the single August intake to primary schools takes in children from 4 years 6 months to 5 years 11 months in a few cases.
Parents who are considering deferring their child’s entry to primary school should discuss this with their education authority as early as possible. Local Authorities will usually ask parents to enrol their children for primary school several months before they are due to start.
In general, the school year begins in the second or third week in August. There are breaks of one or two weeks in October and at Christmas and Easter. Some Unitary Authorities (UAs)also set a short break in mid February. The school year ends around the end of June.
The majority of schools in Scotland are managed by the 32 UAs. These UAs normally offer school places to children on the basis of designated catchment areas. They determine the catchment areas for each of their schools and children living within this are normally provided with a place at the school serving that area. For further information contact us.
Transfer to secondary school is in the August when your child is between 11½ and 12½. This is later than in other parts of the UK, however your child will not miss out on education. Entry to a school is based on the catchment area determined as above, or on the primary school attended where the Local Authority has linked particular primary schools to the secondary school. However, all secondary schools have associated primary schools with which they have good links, and they usually spend time helping children to make the transition. Many secondary schools give primary pupils a ‘taster’ course in the term before they move.
If your child is going to fall between years on moving to Scotland, especially between primary and secondary then our advice is to talk to the schools involved, explain your situation and they may well be sympathetic. If you have any difficulty please contact us.
Choosing a school
When choosing a nursery place or school for your child there are several sources of information to help you make your decision:
visit the school
check out the school’s resources and the children’s work
ask how the school involves parents
would it suit your child?
Many schools hold open days and evenings where you can meet the staff and see children’s work. Or you could make an appointment to visit the school at another time, and ask to talk to the Head teacher. All schools produce an annual handbook that gives information on many aspects of the school, its curriculum and values.
Local Authorities also provide parents of Primary 7 pupils with comparative information about secondary schools in their area, which includes details of examination results, destinations of school leavers and attendance and absence levels.
HM Inspectorate of Education
If a school has recently been inspected, parents can also request a copy of the inspection report direct from HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) Central Management Unit by calling 0131 244 0648. HM Inspectorate Quality Standards and Audit Division also publish national reports on attendance and absence levels and (for secondary schools) examination results and leaver destinations which give information about individual school performance and Local Authority and national averages. The Scottish Executive produces a Choosing a School booklet for parents who want to find out more about making placing requests visit parentzone for more admissions information.
Education in Wales
The law does not require a child to start school until the start of the term following the child’s fifth birthday. However some admission authorities for primary schools offer places in reception classes to parents before their children are of compulsory school age, in accordance with their published admission arrangements. (In practice many Welsh authorities admit pupils to primary school in the September of the year in which they are five.)
If a parent is offered and accepts a place during the normal admission round but asks to defer their child’s entry to school until he or she is of compulsory school age, the admission authority may agree to the parent’s request provided the place is taken up within the same academic year.
Types of school
The four types of school in Wales are:
community primary and secondary schools [There are no “middle” schools in Wales]
voluntary controlled primary and secondary schools, usually affiliated to the Church in Wales
voluntary aided schools, usually affiliated to the Roman Catholic Church
foundation schools
In Wales there is no specialist school programme, there is access to both primary and secondary Welsh-medium education in all areas. Welsh is a core subject of the Welsh National Curriculum and is taught mainly as a first language in Welsh speaking schools (as defined in statute). In other schools, it is a non-core foundation subject and is taught primarily as a second language. If you are moving to an area where Welsh is the main or sole medium of instruction you can apply for Day School Allowance so that you children can attend an Independent school where they are taught in English. Contact us for details of the allowance and schools in your area.
Choosing a school
School governing bodies are under a duty to publish information about their schools and authorities must publish information about admission arrangements for all maintained mainstream schools in their area. In practice authorities produce a composite prospectus for parents which will include information such as:
the name and address of each school and contact details
the school’s classification
a statement of the school’s religious affiliation
time-scales for the admission process
each school’s admission policy and over-subscription criteria which will be used to allocate places if there are more applicants than places available at the school
details of catchment areas or feeder schools where appropriate
Authorities may also publish information on whether and to what extent schools in their area have been oversubscribed in the past, commenting on whether that is likely to be a good guide for the future.
A copy of the most recent prospectus will be available from the authority and may be available electronically on the authority’s website. The published reports of recent school inspections by Her Majesties Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales (ESTYN) may also be useful information for parents.
Higher education
The devolution of political power to the Assemblies of Northern Ireland and Wales and the Scottish Parliament continues to result in increases to the diversity of educational policy between the four component countries of the UK.
One area of diversity relates to the funding in each country for students in higher (university or equivalent) education. There have been instances when Service families moving across UK national boundaries have believed themselves to be disadvantaged financially by this diversity. This fact sheet aims to provide information which should enable Service families to minimise or eliminate any such disadvantage resulting from Service induced mobility.
Where to start
Your starting point should always be with the local authority, Education and Library Board (Northern Ireland) or national government information sources in the country in which yo are living at the time you wish to apply for funding for higher education courses. If you are currently living overseas, you should read this guide before deciding on an appropriate start point. Within each UK country, there are web sites which you may find particularly relevant in clarifying eligibility for funding and in identifying the different type