Important update from TheSchoolRun
For the past 13 years, TheSchoolRun has been run by a small team of mums working from home, dedicated to providing quality educational resources to primary school parents. Unfortunately, rising supplier costs and falling revenue have made it impossible for us to continue operating, and we’ve had to make the difficult decision to close. The good news: We’ve arranged for another educational provider to take over many of our resources. These will be hosted on a new portal, where the content will be updated and expanded to support your child’s learning.
What this means for subscribers:
- Your subscription is still active, and for now, you can keep using the website as normal — just log in with your usual details to access all our articles and resources*.
- In a few months, all resources will move to the new portal. You’ll continue to have access there until your subscription ends. We’ll send you full details nearer the time.
- As a thank you for your support, we’ll also be sending you 16 primary school eBooks (worth £108.84) to download and keep.
A few changes to be aware of:
- The Learning Journey weekly email has ended, but your child’s plan will still be updated on your dashboard each Monday. Just log in to see the recommended worksheets.
- The 11+ weekly emails have now ended. We sent you all the remaining emails in the series at the end of March — please check your inbox (and spam folder) if you haven’t seen them. You can also follow the full programme here: 11+ Learning Journey.
If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you for being part of our journey it’s been a privilege to support your family’s learning.
*If you need to reset your password, it will still work as usual. Please check your spam folder if the reset email doesn’t appear in your inbox.
An overview of the Northern Irish educational system
Education in Northern Ireland is similar to the structure set up in England, with a few key differences. For instance, the age at which children start school is determined by whether they turn four by 1 July of the academic year, whereas in England and Wales it is 1 September.
Also, all Northern Irish schools follow the Northern Ireland Curriculum, which is based on the National Curriculum of England but tailored to local needs. This curriculum is divided into five Key Stages: Foundation Stage (Years 1 and 2), Key Stage 1 (Years 3 and 4), Key Stage 2 (Years 5–7), Key Stage 3 (Years 8–10), and Key Stage 4 (Years 11–12). While this mirrors England's curriculum structure, the specific expectations and assessments are unique to Northern Ireland.
Students in Northern Ireland don't sit Key Stage 1 and 2 SATs (Standard Assessment Tests); instead, they are assessed by their teachers using Levels of Progression (LoP). These assessments occur at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 4) and Key Stage 2 (Year 7). Teachers assign levels to students based on their performance, and these levels correspond to specific expectations: students should be at Level 2 by the end of Key Stage 1 and at Level 4 by the end of Key Stage 2. Formal results are reported to parents at the end of Year 4 and Year 7.
In secondary school, pupils take General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) exams in Year 12 and have the option to continue into Years 13 and 14 to study for A-levels or more vocationally-focused Advanced Level exams.
The Northern Ireland Curriculum also includes compulsory Religious Education (RE) at all Key Stages, though parents have the right to withdraw their children from these lessons if they wish.
| Age during school year | England and Wales: National Curriculum (plus Foundation Phase in Wales) | Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland Curriculum | Scotland: Curriculum for Excellence |
| 4-5 | Reception | Year 1 | (Nursery) |
| 5-6 | Year 1 | Year 2 | P1 |
| 6-7 | Year 2 | Year 3 | P2 |
| 7-8 | Year 3 | Year 4 | P3 |
| 8-9 | Year 4 | Year 5 | P4 |
| 9-10 | Year 5 | Year 6 | P5 |
| 10-11 | Year 6 | Year 7 | P6 |
| 11-12 | Year 7 | Year 8 | P7 |
| 12-13 | Year 8 | Year 9 | S1 |
| 13-14 | Year 9 | Year 10 | S2 |
| 14-15 | Year 10 | Year 11 | S3 |
| 15-16 | Year 11 | Year 12 | S4 |
| A-Levels and SCE Highers – not compulsory | |||
| 16-17 | Year 12 | Year 13 | S5 |
| 17-18 | Year 13 | Year 14 | S6 |
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