The application process of British schools and the precautions that should be understood before application are a very important course. Many parents who do not know British schools often have this confusion in the early stage. In this issue, Niuniu will show you what should be paid attention to when applying for primary and secondary schools in the UK.

　　1. Standard process for applying to UK private schools

　　Before we show you the pit we stepped on in those years and hope you won't experience it again, first of all, let's use a chart to help you briefly understand the standard process of applying for private schools in the UK:

　　Whether in primary or secondary schools, it can be seen from this picture that applying for private schools in the UK is a matter that needs to be prepared in advance. In addition, Niuniu wants to remind parents of a very important point: in this process, the earlier you prepare and make plans, the better it will be for your children.

　　2. Primary and secondary school system in the UK

　　Why do you say that? We can take a look at the educational system of primary and secondary schools in the UK through the following figure. It can be found that the educational system in the UK is not the same as that in China.

　　For example, most private primary schools in the UK start from year 1, which corresponds to the age of 5. This stage can be understood as the "preschool" of private primary schools in the UK to prepare children for prep school. From year 3, it is the real primary school stage, which corresponds to the age of 7; The junior middle school starts from year 9, that is, the child is 13 years old, and continues to year 11. The child completes the junior middle school examination; High school starts at the age of 16, corresponding to year 12 in the British school system.

　　Seeing this, some parents may start to feel a little dizzy and confused about the British grade, which is very normal, because most of us are used to taking the time and grade of domestic schools as the benchmark to determine the age of children, the grade or primary school needs to be read for a few years, then go to junior high school, and then go to senior high school after a few years.

　　However, it is because there are differences between the two countries in applying for admission from the beginning, so we always emphasize that when studying in primary and secondary schools in the UK, we should make preparations as soon as possible, so as to buy more time for children.

　　3. Precautions for applying for school

　　Entry points in private schools in the UK

　　For the 95% of parents studying in primary and secondary schools that Niuniu is currently exposed to, there are four major test entry points in the UK that need special attention: 7 years old, 11 years old, 13 years old and 16 years old. The age of 7 is the time point for primary school entrance at the top level in the UK, and the ages of 11, 13 and 16 are the examination nodes for junior high school and senior high school entrance in the UK respectively.

　　Here, parents should pay particular attention to: applying for the entrance examination of British private schools must register in advance. Generally speaking, the registration time of private schools in the UK needs to be one to three years in advance. For the top 50 private schools in primary and secondary schools in the UK, they have a more strict schedule for the registration time of students.

　　Latest registration deadline

　　In order to ensure that every child can enjoy the high-quality resources of the school, including learning, facilities, teachers, etc., there are strict restrictions on the admission quota of private schools in the UK every year, and many good schools will open their registration positions more than one year before the child's admission point because there are too many applicants, And set the deadline for registration to ensure the orderly progress of enrollment. This date is calculated according to the child's birthday.

　　Generally speaking, UK private schools have different rules for registration time at different stages. In primary school, parents usually need to register their children one to two years in advance. Among them, the better British private primary schools will need to register two years in advance.

　　In the secondary school stage, the schools with higher ranking have their own registration time. Generally, Niuniu will suggest to prepare three to four years in advance. The top schools such as Eton College, Winchester College and Westminster School will be particularly strict about the registration time, Once the child's age exceeds their latest registration time, it is very difficult to apply again.

　　For example, Eton College, Harrow School and Winchester College all start at the age of 13. Harrow School, for example, requires parents to complete school registration or registration at the age of 10. Therefore, parents who want to apply for private schools in the UK need to pay particular attention to the latest registration date of each school.

　　Shift change

　　Finally, some parents and children may also face the situation of changing classes. In the UK's private school system, both primary and secondary schools allow students to transfer halfway, but there are two situations that parents must know in advance:

　　1、 Every school has a fixed number of students every year. The situation of class switching only exists when there are still remaining places in the grade. Generally speaking, the number of class switching places will be much less than the places applied at the normal enrollment point. Once the number of places in the grade that children need to transfer to is full, the school will generally not continue to accept them;

　　2、 No matter in primary or secondary school, when entering the last school year (such as year 8 in the last school year of primary school, year 11 in the last year of GCSE, and year 13 in the last year of A-level), the school is not allowed to change classes. In the middle school stage, special attention should be paid to: for example, Eton College, Westminster School and Winchester College, which are well known to parents, do not accept interclass students even in the year 10 stage.

　　Epilogue

　　The above is the most basic precautions when applying for admission to UK private schools summarized by Niu Niu after many on-the-spot visits to schools in recent years, exchanges with local private school principals, and the pits he actually stepped on when applying for schools. However, different schools, especially those with high rankings, need to refer to the school's official website or authoritative media, such as the times, or consult Niuniu for the latest and detailed information.