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Prepare a school handover around the receiving school’s actual request and the child’s learning needs. Collect relevant records, keep sensitive material private and arrange a first conversation before assuming class placement.
What the official guidance establishes
Your Europe says school systems differ and school certificates do not receive automatic EU-wide recognition. Its enrolment guidance includes country-specific information for the EU context it covers. Read Your Europe: starting school in another EU country for the original scope and current instructions.
Ask the receiving school first
Record the school’s official contact, proposed start date and the records it asks for. Clarify how it assesses prior schooling and any translation requirement. Keep an enrolment application separate from an acceptance or confirmed class placement.
Build a child-centred record pack
Use the requested transcripts or reports and add a clear school-history summary for discussion. Include relevant learning-support information through the school’s confidential channel. Keep your own plain-language note separate from professional assessments and do not rewrite those assessments.
Prepare a practical first meeting
List the child’s languages, strengths, support needs and questions about daily school life. Ask about the appropriate staff contact, timetable and communication arrangements. Keep the child’s perspective in the discussion rather than treating the move as a document transfer only.
Your working sheet
This is an optional IMMIGEUROPE planning worksheet, not an official application form or a new document requirement.
| Record | What to enter |
|---|---|
| School request | Accepted records and translation instructions |
| History | Schools, dates and original reports |
| Support | Relevant records and confidential recipient |
| First meeting | Child’s needs, questions and named contact |
Worked planning example
A fictional family has a report using a grading system unfamiliar to the receiving school. They send the original and ask how it will be assessed. They do not convert the marks into a local grade or promise the child a class level themselves.
Use the school’s response to complete the handover and retain the original educational records. Keep the next action in the moving planner and use the guide library for the next part of your move.