Ideally, all school moves should be undertaken at the beginning of a new academic year to reduce the negative impact on the child.
Unless there are good reasons otherwise, school moves should be avoided until a permanent placement has been confirmed.
It’s especially important that everything should be done to avoid moving a young person who’s approaching the end of Key Stage 2, in years 5 and 6. At this stage, pupils are preparing for their end of Key Stage assessments and beginning to plan for transition to secondary school.
It’s also very important to avoid moving young people who are in Key Stage 4, in years 9, 10 and 11. By this stage, young people have begun their exam courses. Different secondary schools often use different examination boards, which can lead to significant complications if a child has to move schools once they’ve started their exam courses.