Switching between curricula when you move country

By the Editorial team · Checked October 2026

Families who move every few years often find that the next city has no school teaching the programme their child is in. Most children cope well with a change of curriculum. The timing of the move matters more than the systems involved.

Year groups and grades

British schools count in Years and American schools in Grades, and the two are offset by one: a child in Year 7 in England is usually placed in Grade 6 in an American school. The cut-off date for a school year also differs between countries and between schools, so a child born in the summer or early autumn can land in different year groups depending on where they enrol. Ask the new school which year they would place your child in, and why, before you accept a place.

The easy years

In primary school, the British, American and IB Primary Years Programme cover broadly similar ground in reading, writing and mathematics, even if they organise it differently. Children usually adjust within a term. The main gaps tend to be in maths topics taught in a different order, and in handwriting or spelling conventions, such as British and American spelling.

The hard years

Moves are hardest during the two-year examination courses near the end of school:

• GCSE and IGCSE courses usually run over Years 10 and 11. Exam boards and set texts differ, so changing school in the middle can mean repeating or skipping material.
• A Levels and the IB Diploma run over the last two years and are structured very differently. A Level students usually take three or four subjects in depth, while Diploma students take six subjects plus the core of Theory of Knowledge, the extended essay and CAS. Moving between them part way through is rarely possible without starting again.
• American high school builds a cumulative transcript of credits and grades from Grade 9. A student joining late needs their previous results converted, and the school decides how.

If a move falls in these years, ask both the current and the new school early. Some families arrange for a student to finish the course at the old school as a boarder, or choose the destination city partly by which schools offer the same programme.

Questions to ask the new school

• Which year or grade will my child join, and how did you decide?
• How will you assess what they already know, and when?
• Is extra support available for gaps, and is there a charge?
• For older students: which of their current courses or credits will you recognise?
• If the language of instruction changes, what language support do you offer?

Records to bring

Bring recent reports, any standardised test results, a description of the courses studied and, for older students, the exam board and syllabus for each subject. A short letter from the current school describing the curriculum helps the new school place your child correctly.

The curriculum guides explain each programme in more detail, and the admissions guide covers timelines and documents.