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 web-site. 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.