Reception (school)

Reception, Nursery, kindergarten (American), or FS2 (foundation second year) is the first year of primary school in England and Wales. It comes after nursery and before Year One in England[1] and Wales or Primary 2 in Northern Ireland.

Pupils in Reception are usually aged between four and five.[2] Children start school either in the term or in the year in which they reach five,[3] depending on the policy of the Local Education Authority. Reception is the final part of the Early Years Foundation Stage of education.[1]

Most areas admit entire year groups in September, regardless of which month they were born, meaning that some pupils will be starting primary school in the month of their fifth birthday, while others will be almost a year behind this milestone.

There is no reception year in Scotland as children progress directly from Nursery to Primary 1 (equivalent to English Year 1) in the August nearest their fifth birthday. Generally this means that a complete intake into P1 ranges from four and a half to five and a half years old.[4] It is also possible for parents of children born in January and February to defer admission by one year, so that they start at five and a half rather than four and a half.

Previously, children in England and Wales had started school later than children in Northern Ireland, where the starting age was generally four, dependent on the date of the child's birthday.