School year calculator

In England and Wales a child born in August is the youngest in their year. A child born on 31 August 2021 started Reception in September 2025, while a child born a day later on 1 September 2021 starts in September 2026.

Children in England don’t have to be in school until the term after their fifth birthday. For a child born between 1 April and 31 August, you can ask the admission authority to let them start Reception a year later, in the September after they turn 5. The admission authority decides, so ask early and check your council’s process.

Scotland groups children born between 1 March and the end of February the following year. They start P1 in the August when the oldest are about 5½ and the youngest about 4½. Children who are still 4 when term starts can usually defer for a year, and since August 2023 every deferred child can get another year of funded early learning and childcare.

A child starts P1 in the September after they turn 4, if they were 4 on or before 1 July. A child born on 2 July waits another year. Deferral is only allowed in exceptional circumstances.

In England and Wales, GCSE exams are taken at the end of Year 11, usually aged 15 or 16. In Northern Ireland that’s Year 12. In Scotland most pupils sit National 5s in S4.

In England a young person can leave school on the last Friday in June of Year 11 if they will be 16 by the end of the summer holidays, but they must stay in education or training, such as college or an apprenticeship, until 18. In Wales and Northern Ireland they can leave school at 16 on the same June date. In Scotland it depends on the birthday: if they turn 16 between 1 March and 30 September they can leave on 31 May, and if they turn 16 between 1 October and the end of February they can leave at the start of the Christmas holidays.