In what many see as the storm before the calm, an increase in the transmissibility of Covid 19 through a new mutation of the virus has seen the UK and the devolved Governments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland taking further action to control the pandemic ahead of an ambitious vaccination programme. These new restrictions are running parallel with the UK’s largest roll out of the two authorised vaccines, with the newly approved and easier to store ‘Oxford/AstraZeneca’ vaccine now being administered alongside the ‘Pfizer’ vaccine across the whole of the UK.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a period of enormous change and uncertainty in most countries throughout the world. In many locations including the UK, children and young people were forced to experience the sudden and unexpected closure of schools, colleges, and universities quite early in the pandemic. Consequently, students (and their teachers) had to adapt to a new way of life very quickly - whatever that looked like, whether that be learning by ‘Zoom’ or specialised online platform, by parental home schooling or in some cases, receiving no education at all.

If you are relocating to the UK with school aged children, here’s what is happening with our schools:

If you are hoping to relocate to the UK this summer, the good news is that slowly, things are now opening up. With lock-down easing in the UK, schools are gradually opening and businesses such as retail, realtors and estate agents are now up and running. Given this positive news, businesses and individuals are now feeling able to plan that all important job relocation.

When families with children relocate, schooling is often the most important part of the move – and the most stressful. Families worry about how the children will make the transfer from one country and schooling system to another. They are concerned about whether the new school will be a good one and how the children will cope with language and curriculum differences. What’s more, the effects of the changes in environment, when they return home as well as when they leave, should not be underestimated.