At ages of 3 to 5, children in the UK attend pre-school education in nursery schools, which is fully funded by local government.
The national Foundation Stage curriculum for nursery schools set specific goals with expected outcomes. Skilled teachers will supervise educational play and encourage children to think creatively and make connections in their learning.
For those parents who are interested in early education may find the website iKidsiBooks informative.
At ages of 5 to 11, children in the UK attend primary schools, where they learn a broad range of subjects, aiming to developing pupils’ confidence and responsibility and making the most of their abilities. The compulsory national curriculum subjects at primary school are:
- English
- Math
- Science
- Design and technology
- History
- Geography
- Art and design
- Music
- Physical education (PE), including swimming
- Information and communication technology (ICT)
Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE), Citizenship, and Modern Foreign Languages are also taught at primary schools.
Primary education consists of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, covering six school years. Starting from Key Stage 2 (third school year), teaching and learning become increasingly based on skills with investigative work as a key part of everyday education programmes. Standard Assessment Tests (SATs) are administered at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2, age 7) and Key Stage 2 (Year 6, age 11), and the results are published at the Department of Education national league tables of schools every year.
UK qualifications are renowned all over the world. For those foreign parents studying or working in the UK, their dependent children, aged 4 to 17, would have a chance to come with them and attend either a free state school or a fee-paying independent school. By so doing, their children would have a head start in spoken English and would thus have a smoother transition into a UK university if they have the right qualifications.
However, the dependent children will not be able to stay on as students once the parents leave the UK. If they want to continue their study in the UK, they will have to first leave the UK when their parents leave, and apply for a student visa from their home countries before re-entering the UK. Click the link for UK immigration routes, and check it out below for other British education programmes as well as how we can help.