What school year is my child in? UK year groups and ages
Find your child's England year group and key stage by age, with a year-group-by-age table, an instant calculator, and the 1 September cut-off explained.
In England, the school year your child is in is decided by one date: their age on 1 September. A child who is 4 on 1 September starts Reception, a 5 year old is in Year 1, an 11 year old is in Year 7, and so on up to Year 13. The academic year runs from 1 September to 31 August, so a summer birthday does not move a child up or down a year. The calculator below turns a date of birth into the exact year group and key stage.
Year groups and ages at a glance
Use the calculator to find your child's year group, key stage, and school phase for the academic year you choose. The reference table inside it lists every England year group and the age children reach on 1 September, and highlights your child's row.
What school year is my child in?
Pick the academic year and enter your child's date of birth. We will show their England year group, key stage, and school phase, and highlight the matching row in the reference table below.
| Year group | Age on 1 Sep (years) | Key stage | Phase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nursery | 3 | EYFS | Early years |
| Reception | 4 | EYFS | Early years |
| Year 1 | 5 | KS1 | Primary |
| Year 2 | 6 | KS1 | Primary |
| Year 3 | 7 | KS2 | Primary |
| Year 4 | 8 | KS2 | Primary |
| Year 5 | 9 | KS2 | Primary |
| Year 6 | 10 | KS2 | Primary |
| Year 7 | 11 | KS3 | Secondary |
| Year 8 | 12 | KS3 | Secondary |
| Year 9 | 13 | KS3 | Secondary |
| Year 10 | 14 | KS4 | Secondary |
| Year 11 | 15 | KS4 | Secondary |
| Year 12 | 16 | KS5 | Sixth form |
| Year 13 | 17 | KS5 | Sixth form |
How the school year works in England
The academic year starts on 1 September and ends on 31 August the following year. Every state school groups pupils by the age they have reached on that 1 September, not by their exact birthday. Two children in the same Reception class can be almost a year apart: one born in September, the other the following August.
This single cut-off is why the question "what year is my child in" has a clean answer. Once you know the age on 1 September, the year group follows. A child who has turned 4 by 1 September is in Reception. Add a year of age and you add a year group, all the way to Year 13.
It also explains why term dates matter more than they first appear. Terms and holidays are set by each local authority and academy rather than nationally, so the exact start and end of the year vary by up to a week between areas. You can check the precise dates on each school's profile when you are comparing options.
Key stages explained
The national curriculum splits compulsory schooling into key stages, and each one groups several year groups together for teaching and assessment.
- Early Years Foundation Stage covers Nursery and Reception, where learning is play-based and rounded off by the Reception baseline and the EYFS profile.
- Key Stage 1 covers Years 1 and 2, ending with the Year 1 phonics screening check and Key Stage 1 assessments.
- Key Stage 2 covers Years 3 to 6 and finishes with the Year 6 SATs.
- Key Stage 3 covers Years 7 to 9, the first three years of secondary school.
- Key Stage 4 covers Years 10 and 11, the two GCSE years.
- Key Stage 5 covers Years 12 and 13, where students take A levels, T levels, or equivalent qualifications.
Knowing the key stage is useful when you read a school's results, because performance measures such as Key Stage 2 progress or Progress 8 at Key Stage 4 are reported by stage rather than by single year group.
Primary, secondary, and sixth form
Most children move through three phases. Primary school runs from Reception to Year 6, secondary school from Year 7 to Year 11, and sixth form or college covers Years 12 and 13. The jump from Year 6 to Year 7 is the point at which families apply for a secondary place, with a national deadline of 31 October in Year 6.
Some areas use a three-tier system of first, middle, and upper schools, and a small number of all-through schools keep pupils from Reception to Year 13 on one site. The year-group numbering stays the same in every case, so a Year 7 pupil is 11 on 1 September whether they are in a secondary school or a middle school.
Summer-born children
A child born between 1 April and 31 August is described as summer-born and is the youngest in their year group. Parents of summer-born children can ask their local authority to defer entry to Reception until the following September, or to start the child outside the normal age group. Councils consider these requests individually, so it is worth raising the question early if you think your child would benefit from waiting.
Deferral does not change how the year groups work, only which cohort your child joins. The GOV.UK guidance on summer-born children sets out the process and the evidence councils look for.
How FindMySchool helps
Once you know the year group, the next questions are usually about which schools to apply to and how competitive they are. FindMySchool covers more than 25,000 schools, each with its own profile, FMS Inspection score, and catchment distance data, so you can move from "what year is my child in" to a shortlist quickly.
- Use the school search to find primary and secondary schools near you and filter by phase.
- Compare league positions and our in-house FMS Inspection score on each hub of best schools, which ranks schools by area.
- If you are weighing up results, our guide to Progress 8 and school performance tables explains what the numbers mean by key stage.
- Planning a Reception or secondary application? Read how primary school waiting lists work before offer day.
Frequently asked questions
An August birthday puts your child at the youngest end of their year group. In England, the year group is set by age on 1 September, so a child born in August is still 4 on that date and starts Reception that month, alongside children born the previous September who are almost a full year older.