Author
Mhairi Sim
Published:
July 2026
Key takeaways
The Year 6 to Year 7 transition is the process that children go through as they finish up their primary school careers and move into secondary school.
Starting Year 7 is a big adjustment, and so it’s normal to notice a dip in confidence or schoolwork standards at first.
The end of Year 6 and primary school is a big milestone for both children and their parents. With the countdown to “big school” on, the excitement and the nerves start to ramp up, and rightly so!
A day in secondary school looks very different to primary school, with different daily routines, changing classrooms, and a different teacher for each lesson. There will also be changes to friendship groups and social dynamics as learners go from being the oldest in the school to the youngest.
In this primary to secondary school transition UK guide for parents and students, we’ll look at what to expect during the Year 6 to Year 7 transition and share helpful Year 7 transition tips for how to prepare for Year 7!
The transition refers to the move that kids make when they finish Year 6 and primary school, and head to secondary school where they’ll begin Year 7 after the summer holidays. As adults, it’s important to remember that this move is much more than just a change of building!
All this change creates some Year 7 anxiety, which can lead to what’s known as the ‘Year 7 dip’. This manifests as a slight apparent decline in academic performance and a loss of confidence in areas where learners were previously quite confident!
Thankfully, the ‘Year 7 dip’ doesn’t mean that learners have forgotten everything they know! All that’s happening is an adjustment period where more energy goes on navigating the new routines and social aspects of secondary school. In most cases, the ‘dip’ only lasts for a term or two and kids are usually back to normal by Christmas.
Starting secondary school comes with a whole host of changes and can look very different to primary school for an incoming Year 7 student.
I remember in my first week of Year 7 heading all the way up to the fourth floor thinking I had a biology class, but I’d misread my timetable and was actually meant to be on the ground floor in a maths class. I was 10 minutes late to class in the end, and was absolutely mortified!
Secondary schools are big buildings filled with classrooms, organised into different departments; unsurprisingly, like me, many Year 7 students struggle to make sense of their timetable and find their way around in the first few months!
While some students love the excitement of a new teacher every hour or so, for many it can be a lot! Teachers each have their own styles and behaviours they will and won’t tolerate – for some kids this social reset every time the bell rings can be exhausting.
The biggest academic change for Year 7s definitely comes from the change in how homework works for them. Each subject teacher sets homework on their own schedule, and so keeping track of deadlines has to become part of the daily routine rather than just handing everything in on Friday like in primary school!
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Moving from Year 6 to secondary school, the biggest change is that kids are expected to organise themselves. Within the first few weeks of school, they’ll be:
Encourage your kids to start packing their own school bag and lunch, looking out their own clothes, setting and sticking to a homework schedule, or packing their bag for swimming lessons. As a parent, I know how frustrating this journey can be and that sometimes it’s just easier and quicker to do it ourselves – but the payoff in September will be big, I promise!
Most primary school students have the opportunity to take part in school-run transition days as part of their Year 6 7 transition. These days allow incoming students to spend a day or two on-site and meet some of their new classmates and teachers. Over the summer, you can practice the journey to school to familiarise your child with the route or any bus or train stops they’ll need to look out for.
Personally, I’m a big advocate for letting children properly rest and re-set over the summer. Most schools certainly won’t expect their incoming Year 7s to have kept up with structured learning over the holidays!
Regular trips to the library for new reading material and 10 minutes a day playing curriculum-aligned games like the ones we have in the DoodleLearning apps are perfect to keep the basics ticking over.
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It’s an emotional time – and every child feels differently. It helps to talk openly about it, and bring up the topic throughout Year 6 and over the summer so that it doesn’t become a big, heavy conversation. A head of year or a pastoral lead will also be on hand to check in and support Year 7s as they find their feet.
Sometimes, students start secondary school with very few others from their primary school or even if there are some familiar faces, they’re in different classes. Secondary schools are well set up for this with clubs and lots of opportunities to mix across the year group, and it’s important to remember that almost everyone else is in the same boat. Friendships will come and go in the first few months as everyone settles in, and that’s ok!
Leaving primary school behind and moving up to secondary is a big moment, but it really doesn’t need to be a scary one! Preparation ahead of the Year 6 7 transition in the form of building organisational skills and having open, honest conversations is key to a confident start for your future Year 7 student!
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Lesson credits
Mhairi Sim
Mhairi is an experienced teacher, freelance writer and parent. After completing her bachelor's degree in Psychology, she graduated as a teacher from the University of Strathclyde. She then built experience teaching across KS1 and KS2 throughout the UK. In addition to working in mainstream education, Mhairi specialised in the additional support needs sector, including social, emotional, and behavioural support.
Mhairi
Mhairi is an experienced teacher, freelance writer and parent. After completing her bachelor's degree in Psychology, she graduated as a teacher from the University of Strathclyde. She then built experience teaching across KS1 and KS2 throughout the UK. In addition to working in mainstream education, Mhairi specialised in the additional support needs sector, including social, emotional, and behavioural support.
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