[HPforGrownups] Age of Starting School

[The Crashing Boar]

No: HPFGUIDX 71582

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Lady Macbeth 
  <snip>  I started school in Wisconsin, and I was 5 about to turn 6 when
  I started - pretty standard, my birthday is 25 Dec.  However, upon seeing my
  test scores when I went in for Kindergarten Roundup, the school district
  wanted to put me in second grade.  My mom refused, on the basis that she
  didn't want her five year old in class with a bunch of seven year olds.
  However, I remained advanced the rest of the way through school, and a lot
  of parents and teachers wondered along the way if my mom had made such a
  good decision.

  Hermione seems very similar.  I'm not sure, however, if British schools make
  any kind of exceptions for "exceptional" students.  If they do, it is all
  together possible that she was indeed 10 and turned 11 in September.  She
  may have been an "advanced" student from the start, and would have been
  going into a standard secondary school when she was "too young" if she would
  have remained in the Muggle world.<snip> <<<<<


  British school entry is a little different.  When my eldest girl started school (2 years ago) , only 3 of the class were already 5, and over half of them were not 5 until after Christmas ( I believe the cut off for turning 5 may be Easter).  It is possible for exceptional students to be allowed to pass up to a more advanced level within the state system, but it is usually not done until they are older (studying for exams) for the same reasons your mother made her decision - putting children into a group that has had longer to develop certain social skills etc can actually repress a younger child.  Where possible, extra help is given to allow the child to learn at a suitable pace, although a lot of this may come down to the parents.  So, by the time of entry to Hogwarts, a gifted child might well be starting to move up through the usual year groupings, but then classes will also be being divided to fit suitable exam streams anyway.  State education is offered from age 4-19 ish.

  So, it would not have been exceptional for Hermione to have been only 10 when she entered, as long as for the major part of the academic year (September to July) she had reached 11.

  Something that I don't know if it has been discussed (only having been here less than a week) is that Hogwarts may well not be the only school of its type, simply the prestige school.  I suspect entry is limited by things like family association, ability to pay and/or magical abilities.  Harry could be on the equivalent of a scholarship, or there could be some kind of trust fund (administered by Dumbledore?).  Hermione's parents are probably in a position to pay her fees, but she may well also have some kind of academic scholarship award.  The reason the Weasleys are always so strapped for cash may be the need to keep 6 kids school fees paid.  In fact, we have no reason to assume the WW operates any form of 'state education', merely oversees certain aspects of any educational bodies that exist. (I believe that may have been the point of rushing through the legislation that put Umbridge in place - to gain control never held before, in the guise of protecting the young).
  Dawn