The UK education system can seem impossibly daunting, and if you are moving your family into the UK for the first time the choices may appear, at first, overwhelming. We have tried to present the facts clearly and simply in our series of ‘Education Explained’ articles to help you navigate the system and make the best choice for your child and your family.

Fiona Leney explains what relocating parents need to know about the different types, and timings, of school entrance exam.

For children applying to independent schools, Christmas can be more the season of stress than of cheer. Many of them will be sitting entrance exams in January or February, with the hope of starting at their chosen school in September.

These will be the schools’ own exams, usually consisting of papers in the core subjects of maths, English and science. Just over the horizon loom scholarship exams in the spring, and, in June, the Common Entrance Exam, for schools who still use this standardised test.

If you are moving your child before they have embarked on life at secondary school, a major deciding factor will be what you want your child to learn, how they will be examined and what qualifications will be awarded at the end of school. This is where the decisions get a bit trickier.

A state school is, in short, a school funded by the public sector.

State schools largely receive their funding from local authorities. They follow the National Curriculum (see The National Curriculum Explained) and are regularly inspected by the UK schools inspection body - Ofsted.

Grammar schools are government funded secondary schools and are the only state schools in England that are allowed to select all of their pupils based on academic ability.

The History of Grammar Schools

Until the 1970s, in England and Wales, all pupils were required to sit what is known as the ‘11 plus’ exam to determine which secondary school they would attend. This system was eventually replaced by the comprehensive state school system and most Grammar schools were phased out, either becoming comprehensive schools or converting to private schools. However, many Grammar schools maintained their status and still exist today.