UK Education Glossary

Key Stage 1 — ages 5 to 7 (Years 1-2)

The first stage of the National Curriculum. Pupils are assessed by their teacher at the end of Year 2 in reading, writing, and maths.

Key Stage 2 — ages 7 to 11 (Years 3-6)

Pupils take national SATs tests at the end of Year 6. Results are used by secondary schools and for school performance tables.

Key Stage 4 — ages 14 to 16 (Years 10-11, GCSEs)

Key Stage 5 — ages 16 to 18 (Years 12-13, A-levels)

Standard Assessment Tests — national tests taken at end of KS1 and KS2

SATs are statutory tests in England taken at the end of Year 6 (KS1 SATs at the end of Year 2 became optional from the 2023/24 year). They test reading, maths, and grammar/spelling/punctuation. Results are scaled scores with 100 as the expected standard.

General Certificate of Secondary Education — exams taken at age 16

GCSEs are graded 9-1 in England (9 being the highest) and A*-G in Wales and Northern Ireland. Most students take 8-10 subjects.

Advanced Level qualifications — typically taken at ages 17-18 for university entry

Students usually take 3-4 A-levels over two years. Graded A*-E. They are the main qualification for university admission in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

English Baccalaureate — a set of GCSE subjects (English, maths, sciences, a language, history or geography)

Not a separate qualification but a performance measure. Schools are measured on the percentage of pupils entering and achieving the EBacc combination.

A school's average GCSE performance across 8 subjects

Attainment 8 measures a school's average achievement across 8 qualifications including English, maths, 3 EBacc subjects, and 3 other approved qualifications. Scores typically range from 30 to 70.

How much progress pupils make between KS2 and KS4 compared to similar pupils nationally

A score of 0 means average progress. Positive scores mean above-average progress. A score of +0.5 means pupils achieve roughly half a grade higher per subject than similar pupils nationally.

Average Point Score — converts grades to a numeric scale for comparison

Value Added — measures the progress a school helps its pupils make compared to similar pupils elsewhere

Curriculum for Excellence — the national curriculum framework in Scotland

CfE covers ages 3-18 and is structured into levels: Early, First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Senior Phase. It aims to develop four capacities: successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens, and effective contributors.

Scottish qualifications typically taken at age 16-17, equivalent to A-levels

Highers are the main qualification for university entry in Scotland. Students typically take 5 Highers in S5 (Year 12). Advanced Highers are taken in S6 for further depth.

Scottish qualifications taken at age 15-16, equivalent to GCSEs

Early Years Foundation Stage — the curriculum framework for children from birth to age 5

The EYFS covers nurseries, childminders and Reception classes in England. Children are assessed at the end of Reception via the EYFS Profile against 17 early learning goals.

Good Level of Development — the headline measure of the EYFS Profile at the end of Reception

A child reaches a GLD if they meet the expected level in the early learning goals covering communication and language, personal/social/emotional development, physical development, literacy and maths.

A short Year 1 reading check of phonics decoding, taken in June

Children read 40 words (including made-up "pseudo-words") to a teacher. The expected standard has been 32 out of 40 in recent years; children who do not meet it retake the check in Year 2.

Multiplication Tables Check — a Year 4 online times-tables assessment

A 25-question on-screen check of times tables up to 12×12, with 6 seconds per question. There is no pass mark; results go to schools and the DfE, not into league tables.

Two-year technical qualifications for 16–19-year-olds, each broadly equivalent to three A-levels

T Levels combine classroom study with a substantial industry placement (~45 days). They sit alongside A-levels and apprenticeships as a post-16 route in England.

Business and Technology Education Council qualifications — vocational courses taken alongside or instead of GCSEs and A-levels

BTECs are graded Pass/Merit/Distinction and carry UCAS points at Level 3. Many sixth forms and colleges offer them in subjects from engineering to health and social care.

Office for Standards in Education — the body that inspects schools in England

Ofsted inspects schools, nurseries and childcare in England. The single overall grade (Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement, Inadequate) was dropped in September 2024 and replaced from November 2025 by a 'report card': each area of a school's work is graded separately on a five-point scale — Exceptional, Strong standard, Expected standard, Needs attention, Urgent improvement. Early Years settings use the same scale on early-years areas; out-of-school clubs and some childminders are instead judged 'Met' or 'Not met' against the Childcare Register. Schools inspected before November 2025 still show the old four-point grade.

Independent Schools Inspectorate — inspects independent (private) schools

The education inspectorate for Wales

Estyn inspects schools and education services in Wales. It uses a different framework from Ofsted, rating schools on standards, wellbeing, teaching, and leadership.

Education and Training Inspectorate — inspects schools in Northern Ireland

The national body supporting quality and improvement in Scottish education

Education Scotland is Scotland’s national curriculum and improvement agency. Since the Education (Scotland) Act 2025, school inspections are carried out by the separate, re-established His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE), which grades quality indicators on a six-point scale.

Quality Indicator — used in Scottish school inspections

The inspection report format used in England from November 2025, grading each area of a school separately

Report cards replaced the single overall grade. Each evaluation area (such as curriculum and teaching, achievement, attendance and behaviour, personal development, inclusion) is graded on a five-point scale from Exceptional to Urgent improvement.

A state-funded school in England that is independent of local authority control

Academies are publicly funded but run by academy trusts. They have more freedom over curriculum, term dates, and teacher pay. Converter academies were previously rated Good/Outstanding; sponsored academies replaced underperforming schools.

Multi-Academy Trust — a group of academies managed together

MATs run multiple academies under a single trust. They share resources, leadership, and back-office functions. The largest MATs manage 40+ schools across multiple regions.

A new school set up by parents, teachers, charities, or businesses, funded by the government

Free schools are a type of academy. They can be set up where there is demand for new school places or to improve local education.

A state school funded and overseen by the local authority

Maintained schools follow the National Curriculum and national pay and conditions for teachers. Includes community schools, voluntary aided, voluntary controlled, and foundation schools.

A state secondary school that selects pupils based on academic ability (the 11-plus exam)

There are around 163 grammar schools in England, concentrated in certain areas (Kent, Buckinghamshire, Lincolnshire). Northern Ireland also has grammar schools via the Transfer Test.

A school funded by fees rather than the state — commonly called a private school

Independent schools set their own curriculum and admissions criteria. Fees typically range from £10,000-£45,000 per year. Some offer bursaries and scholarships.

Voluntary Aided school — a faith school where the religious body contributes to building costs and influences admissions

Voluntary Controlled school — a faith school where the local authority employs staff and sets admissions

Pupil Referral Unit — alternative provision for excluded pupils

PRUs provide education for children who cannot attend a mainstream school, often due to exclusion, illness, or other reasons. They aim to reintegrate pupils back into mainstream education.

Local Authority — the council responsible for education in an area

There are 153 local authorities in England, 22 in Wales and 32 councils in Scotland, which hold statutory duties including school place planning, SEND/ALN/ASN provision and school transport. Northern Ireland’s 11 councils do not: there, education duties, including special educational needs, sit with the Education Authority (EA).

Department for Education — the UK government department responsible for education policy in England

Get Information About Schools — the DfE database containing details of every school in England

GIAS is the official register of schools. It contains data on school type, phase, location, headteacher, trust, and more. School Atlas ingests GIAS data as a primary source.

Unique Reference Number — the identifier assigned to each school by the DfE

The final two years of secondary education (Years 12–13, ages 16–18)

Sixth forms can be attached to a school or stand alone as sixth-form colleges. Scotland has no sixth forms — S5 and S6 are part of the main secondary school. In Northern Ireland the equivalent years are Years 13–14.

A Northern Ireland school that deliberately educates children from Catholic, Protestant and other backgrounds together

Integrated schools are a distinct sector in NI alongside controlled and Catholic-maintained schools. There are grant-maintained integrated and controlled integrated types.

Published Admission Number — the number of places available in each year group

Every school must publish its PAN. If the school receives more applications than its PAN, it uses oversubscription criteria (distance, siblings, faith, etc.) to decide which children to admit.

The rules a school uses to decide which children get a place when there are more applicants than places

Common criteria include: looked-after children (always first priority), siblings, distance from home to school, catchment area, and for faith schools, religious practice.

The geographic area from which a school prioritises admissions

Not all schools have catchment areas — many use straight-line distance instead. Catchment areas are more common in rural areas. Living in a catchment area does not guarantee a place.

The date when local authorities send out school place offers to parents

For secondary schools: 1 March (or next working day). For primary schools: 16 April (or next working day). Parents then have a set period to accept or appeal.

The distance from school of the last child offered a place — indicates how competitive admissions are

A smaller last distance offered means the school is more oversubscribed. This is a key metric on School Atlas for understanding admissions difficulty.

The entrance exam for grammar schools, taken in Year 6

The 11-plus typically tests verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, English, and maths. Each grammar school or consortium sets its own pass mark.

The first year of primary school in England and Wales, for children aged 4–5

Children start Reception in the September after their fourth birthday. It is part of the EYFS in England, before Year 1. In Scotland the equivalent first year is P1; in Northern Ireland it is also called P1.

Applying for a school place outside the normal annual admissions round — for example after moving house

Applications go to the local authority or directly to the school, which must normally respond within 10 school days and offer a place if one is available. Children who struggle to find a place can be admitted via the local Fair Access Protocol.

The formal process for challenging a refused school place, heard by an independent panel

Parents can appeal any refusal. The panel weighs the school's case that another child would prejudice provision against the family's case for that school. Infant class-size appeals (Reception–Year 2) succeed only on narrow legal grounds.

The right of parents of children born 1 April – 31 August to request a delayed or part-time start to Reception

Summer-born children can start school in the September after their fifth birthday instead of their fourth. Whether they then join Reception or Year 1 is agreed with the admission authority — DfE guidance supports admission into Reception.

Northern Ireland's academic selection test for grammar-school entry, taken in November of P7

Since 2023 a single common test (the SEAG entrance assessment) replaced the separate AQE and GL tests. Grammar schools use the score in their admissions criteria; non-grammar post-primaries do not require it.

Scotland's mechanism for requesting a school other than your local catchment school

Every child is allocated their catchment school automatically; parents who want a different school submit a placing request to the council, which can refuse on capacity or other statutory grounds. Refusals can be appealed.

Special Educational Needs — children who need extra support to learn

"SEN" is the current term in England (as part of "SEND") and Northern Ireland. Wales replaced it with Additional Learning Needs (ALN) under the ALN Act 2018, and Scotland uses the broader Additional Support Needs (ASN) under the 2004 Act — so "SEN" is outdated for Welsh and Scottish schools.

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (England)

The SEND system in England is governed by the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice 2015. It covers children aged 0–25 with learning difficulties or disabilities that require special educational provision. "SEND" is an England-specific label — Wales, Scotland and NI use ALN, ASN and SEN respectively.

Education, Health and Care Plan — England’s legal SEND document (ages 0–25)

An EHCP is a legal document describing a child's special educational, health and social care needs, the support required, and the named school or setting. It is the England equivalent of Wales’ IDP, Scotland’s CSP and NI’s Statement. Parents have the right to request an assessment.

Social, Emotional and Mental Health — one of England’s four broad areas of SEN need

SEMH covers needs such as anxiety, depression, attachment difficulties and conditions like ADHD where they affect emotional regulation. It is one of the four broad areas of need in England’s SEND Code of Practice (alongside Communication & Interaction, Cognition & Learning, and Sensory/Physical). Wales and Scotland describe similar needs under ALN/ASN rather than "SEMH".

Special Educational Needs Coordinator — the staff member responsible for SEN provision in a school

Every mainstream school in England (including academies and free schools) and every maintained nursery school must have a SENCO, who coordinates support, liaises with parents and external agencies, and manages the SEN register. Wales’ equivalent is the ALNCo; NI schools also have a SENCo role.

Additional Learning Needs — the Welsh framework that replaced SEN

Wales replaced the SEN system with ALN under the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018, phased in from 2021 and completed across all year groups by 2024/25. Every child with ALN has an Individual Development Plan (IDP), which replaced the Statement of SEN in Wales, coordinated by the school’s ALNCo. Wales never used EHCPs.

Individual Development Plan — Wales’ statutory plan for a child with ALN

The IDP replaced Statements and individual education plans in Wales under the ALN Act 2018. It is the Welsh equivalent of England’s EHCP. Every learner with ALN has an IDP, maintained by the school or the local authority; only a local-authority IDP can name a school.

Additional Learning Needs Coordinator — Wales’ equivalent of the SENCO

Every maintained school in Wales must designate an ALNCo to coordinate ALN provision, oversee IDPs and liaise with families and agencies under the ALN Act 2018.

Additional Support Needs — Scotland’s deliberately broad support framework

ASN under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 is wider than England’s SEND by design — it covers any child needing extra support to benefit from education, including reasons such as being a young carer, bereavement or English as an additional language, not only disability. More than two in five Scottish pupils are recorded as having ASN.

Co-ordinated Support Plan — Scotland’s statutory plan for complex ASN

A CSP is the only statutory plan under Scotland’s ASL Act. It is for children whose needs arise from complex or multiple factors, are likely to last more than a year, and need significant additional support from the council’s education service and also from another agency (such as health) or another council service (such as social work). Very few pupils with ASN have one; many have no formal plan, and some have a non-statutory Child’s Plan or IEP. It is the Scottish counterpart to the EHCP/IDP/Statement and nominates the school the child attends, but most special-school pupils do not have one: special-school places are decided by the council, or through a parent’s placing request.

Getting It Right For Every Child — Scotland’s national wellbeing approach

GIRFEC is the Scottish Government framework that places the child’s wellbeing at the centre of support, structured around the SHANARRI wellbeing indicators and the Child’s Plan. ASN support is delivered within the GIRFEC approach.

Statement of SEN — Northern Ireland’s legal document setting out a child’s SEN and provision

In Northern Ireland the Education Authority issues a Statement of Special Educational Needs after a statutory assessment, naming the support and school. It is NI’s equivalent of England’s EHCP. England used "statements" until 2014, when they were replaced by EHCPs.

Special Educational Needs and Disability Order (NI) 2005 — NI’s SEN legislation

SENDO strengthened the rights of children with SEN in Northern Ireland and prohibited disability discrimination in schools. The SEND Act (NI) 2016 will reform the system but is only partly in force: its new SEN Regulations and Code of Practice have been delayed until September 2027, so the 1998 Code of Practice and its 2005 Supplement still apply.

Education Authority — the body responsible for SEN provision across Northern Ireland

The Education Authority holds the statutory duties for special educational needs in Northern Ireland, including statutory assessment, issuing Statements and arranging provision — the NI counterpart to a local authority’s SEND role in England.

Extra support provided within a mainstream school for children with SEN who don't have an EHCP

SEN Support is the first stage of the graduated approach in England. The school provides additional interventions using its own budget. If needs are not met, parents can request an EHCP assessment.

Education Otherwise Than At School — provision arranged when a school placement is not suitable

EOTAS is provision arranged by the local authority (England) or council/EA (devolved nations) for children who cannot be educated in a school, for example through tuition, online learning or specialist packages. In England it can be specified in an EHCP.

Places reserved at a mainstream school for pupils with a specific type of SEN, taught mainly in mainstream classes

In England’s school census, resourced provision means places at a mainstream school for pupils with a specific type of SEN who are taught in mainstream classes for at least half their time, with a specialist base. It is not the same as an SEN unit, where pupils are taught in separate classes for at least half their time; the Department for Education records the two separately. Wales and Scotland use their own terms for similar provision, and in Northern Ireland the Education Authority approves Specialist Provision in Mainstream Schools.

A school specifically for children with significant needs who cannot be fully supported in mainstream

Special schools cater for children with complex needs and have higher staff-to-pupil ratios, specialist facilities and trained staff. They do not admit by distance or catchment. In England a place is usually named in an EHCP, in Wales in an IDP maintained by the local authority, and in Northern Ireland in a Statement of SEN. In Scotland the council decides placements, or parents make a placing request; most special-school pupils there do not have a CSP.

Qualified Teacher Status — the professional qualification required to teach in state schools

Newly Qualified Teacher — a teacher in their first year after qualifying (now called ECT)

Since September 2021, newly qualified teachers in England are called Early Career Teachers (ECTs) and have a two-year induction period instead of one.

Early Career Teacher — a teacher in their first two years of teaching (replaced NQT)

Full-Time Equivalent — a way of counting part-time staff as fractions of full-time

The number of pupils per teacher — a measure of how much individual attention children receive

The national average is around 17:1 in primary schools and 16:1 in secondary schools. Independent schools often have ratios of 8-10:1.

Free School Meals — a measure of deprivation; pupils from low-income families

Children qualify for FSM if their family receives certain benefits. The percentage of FSM-eligible pupils is widely used as a deprivation indicator. "Ever 6 FSM" counts pupils eligible at any point in the last 6 years.

Extra funding given to schools for disadvantaged pupils (those eligible for FSM or looked-after children)

Schools receive £1,455 per eligible primary pupil and £1,035 per eligible secondary pupil (2023-24 rates). Schools decide how to spend it but must show impact.

English as an Additional Language — pupils whose first language is not English

EAL pupils may need additional language support. Schools receive some additional funding for EAL pupils in their early years of English education.

Not in Education, Employment, or Training — young people not in any structured activity after leaving school

Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index — ranks areas by the proportion of children in low-income families

IDACI is used in school funding formulas. Higher IDACI scores indicate higher levels of deprivation. It is one component of the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD).