All Caymanian children who are four by August 31st must be registered with the department of Education between March 1st and June 30th for school which starts in September. All Caymanian children are required by law to be in school during the year that they turn five. Children will start in Reception and stay in the primary school system until the end of Year 6 (aged 10, turning 11). However, if your child is already five years of age then they will start in Year 1, missing the crucial foundational Reception year.
Expatriate children who have been given permission to attend a Government school cannot start their children in Reception at the age of four; they have to wait until their child is five years of age and at this point the child will start school in Year 1. This means your child will need to have learnt the look and phonetic sound of all their letters, plus have mastered the foundational Maths skills, prior to them starting school in Year 1 or they will be at a disadvantage playing catch-up from the first day.
At the end of Year 6, when a student is 11 years of age, students take Key Stage II exams which assess and level them for movement to secondary school. The high school then uses the first term to assess each child for academic streaming.
Cayman’s government schools accept students based on catchment areas.
Government primary schools have regular inspections to ensure that they are operating by the standards in Cayman and what can be done to improve their reports.
See the Department of Education's website for information on the schools listed below: