Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten (age 4-6)

In Virginia, your child must turn five on or before 30th September in order to attend Kindergarten.

If your child is not five by this date, but would be starting school in UK (i.e. they are four at the time of the Kindergarten cut off date and will be turning five during the school year), they will attend Pre-Kindergarten.

If your child is six by this date, they will attend 1st Grade.

All schools in Norfolk, Suffolk, Portsmouth, Hampton and Newport News have full day Kindergarten programs.

Only some schools in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake offer full day programs. All other schools offer half day programs.

If full day Kindergarten is not available in the area in which you are living, you can enrol your child in a full day, private program and the MOD will fund 100% of the tuition fees.

​If full day, public (state-funded) Kindergarten is available in your area, but you wish to enrol your child in a private school, you will be personally responsible for paying 1/3rd of the tuition fees and any other claimable expenses. The MOD will fund the remaining 2/3rds.

Elementary school (age 6-11)

The public (state-funded) schools within the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area are considered to be of a good standard, and are widely attended by MOD children. Information on the schools in the area can be found on each public school district’s website.

If you wish to educate your child in the public school system, you must make your preference known to the housing co-ordinator to ensure that you are allocated a property in one of your preferred school’s catchment areas.

​If you would prefer to enrol your child in a private school in the Norfolk, VA area, you will be personally responsible for paying 1/3^rd of the tuition fees and any other claimable expenses. The MOD will fund the remaining 2/3rds.

Middle school (age 11-14)

The public (state-funded) schools within the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area are considered to be of a good standard, and are widely attended by MOD children. Information on the schools in the area can be found on each public school district’s website.

If you wish to educate your child in the public school system, you must make your preference known to the housing co-ordinator to ensure that you are allocated a property in one of your preferred school’s catchment areas.

​If you would prefer to enrol your child in a private school in the Norfolk, VA area, you will be personally responsible for paying 1/3rd of the tuition fees and any other claimable expenses. The MOD will fund the remaining 2/3rds.

High school (age 14-18)

There are no schools in the Norfolk, VA area that offer iGCSEs.

There are, however, a number of public (state-funded) and other private schools in the area that offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. You can locate a school using the IB website (http://www.ibo.org). If you wish to enrol your high school age child in a private school so that they can study the IB program, you are entitled to MOD funding for 90% of the tuition fees and any other claimable expenses. This 90% entitlement is limited to 90% of the cost of tuition at the British School of Washington, and is only for English school years 10, 11, 12 and 13 (US grades 9, 10, 11 and 12).

You also have the option of enrolling your child in a public (state-funded) or private school that offers the regular US academic program (which leads to a US High School Graduation Diploma). It is important to note the limitations of this program of study under High School (age 14-18) (namely that your child will need to graduate 12th Grade at age 18 to obtain it and that it is only recognised by some universities in the UK).

The public (state-funded) schools within the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area are considered to be of a good standard. Information on the schools in the area can be found on each public school district’s website.

If you wish to educate your child in the public school system, you must make your preference known to the housing co-ordinator to ensure that you are allocated a property in one of your preferred school’s catchment areas.

​If you would prefer to enrol your child in a private school in the Norfolk, VA area that offers only the US High School Graduation Diploma, you will be personally responsible for paying 1/3rd of the tuition fees and any other claimable expenses. The MOD will fund the remaining 2/3rds.

Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten (age 4-6)

In Nevada, your child must turn five on or before 30th September in order to attend Kindergarten.

If your child is not five by this date, but would be starting school in UK (i.e. they are four at the time of the Kindergarten cut off date and will be turning five during the school year), they will attend Pre-Kindergarten.

If your child is six by this date, they will attend 1st Grade.

All schools in the Clark County School District offer full day Kindergarten programmes. Due to the availability of state-funded, full day Kindergarten programmes, if you wish to enrol your child in a private school, you will be personally responsible for 1/3rd of the tuition fees and any other claimable expenses. The MOD will fund the remaining 2/3rds.

Elementary school (age 6-11), middle school (age 11-14) and high school (age 14-18)

All public (state-funded) schools in Las Vegas fall within the Clark County School District (http://www.ccsd.net).

Various public (state-funded) and private schools in the area have been visited and assessed a number of times by personnel from the Healthcare and Education Department at the British Embassy and the Overseas Education Support Team (OES) in the UK.

Nellis and Creech Air Force Bases have a School Liaison Officer (SLO) who can provide guidance on the local schools. The SLO also has a website, which contains various resources relating to schooling in the local area: http://www.nellis.af.mil/schoolliaisonofficer

Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten (age 4-6)

In California, for the 2013/14 school year your child must turn five on or before 1st October in order to attend Kindergarten.

For the 2014/15 school year this changes to the 1st September.

If your child is not five by this date, but would be starting school in UK (i.e. they are four at the time of the Kindergarten cut off date and will be turning five during the school year), they will attend Pre-Kindergarten.

If your child is six by this date, they will attend 1st Grade.

There are several school districts serving the off base communities surrounding the AFB. There is also a school district that oversees the schools on base (Muroc Joint Unified School District). If there is no full day, state-funded Kindergarten available in the district in which you live, you can enrol your child in a full day, private program and the MOD will fund 100% of the tuition fees. 

Elementary school (age 6-11), middle school (age 11-14) and high school (age 14-18)

There are several school districts serving the off base communities surrounding the AFB. There is also a school district that oversees the schools on base (Muroc Joint Unified School District).

Various public (state-funded) and private schools in the area have been visited and reviewed previously by personnel from the Healthcare and Education Department at the British Embassy and the Education Policy Team from AFFS.

The last visit (2015) to review the provision available in the public schools in the Antelope Valley area deemed it to be unsuited to the educational needs of children from UK armed forces families.  A further visit is planned to take place in 2023.

Parents wishing to educate their children in private schools can enrol them in a private school and the MOD will fund 100%

Please note that if you choose to live outside the Antelope Valley area you will not be eligible to claim for private education fees.

Edwards AFB has a School Liaison Officer (SLO) who can provide guidance on the local schools. The SLO also has a website, which contains various resources relating to schooling in the local area: http://edwardsfss.com/wordpress/family/school-liaison-offic