What age is P1 in Northern Ireland?

About 4 to 5. Children start P1 in the September after their fourth birthday (with a 1 July cut-off), so P1 is about the age of England's Reception and a US pre-K year.

What is the Foundation Stage in Northern Ireland?

The first two years of primary school, P1 and P2, when learning is meant to be play-based and active.

What year is P7 in England?

About Year 6. Northern Ireland's P1 sits beside England's Reception, so P7 is about Year 6 and US 5th grade.

Northern Ireland Curriculum

Also called NI curriculum, CCEA, Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2, areas of learning, P1 to P7, Year 8.

Ages Ages 4 to 16: P1 to P7, then Years 8 to 12Grades Pre-K–10Planning A plan you adaptScreens Some screen timeShelf School curricula around the English-speaking worldUpdated November 2026

The Northern Ireland Curriculum is set by the Department of Education with CCEA, the curriculum and exams body, and has been statutory in its current form since 2007. Primary school runs from P1 to P7 in three stages: a Foundation Stage in P1 and P2, Key Stage 1 in P3 and P4, and Key Stage 2 from P5 to P7. Children start P1 younger than in most systems, at 4 to 5. This page explains the stages, the areas of learning and how a P1 child compares with England's Reception and US grades.

1 Where it came from

The current Northern Ireland Curriculum was introduced from 2007 under a statutory order that sets the areas of learning for each stage. The 2007 revision added the Foundation Stage, bringing play-based learning into P1 and P2, and CCEA publishes the curriculum and its guidance for each key stage.

2 The big ideas

Foundation Stage, P1 and P2. Learning in the first two years of primary is meant to be play-based and active, building language, number and social skills before more formal work.
Six areas of learning in primary. Language and literacy; mathematics and numeracy; the arts; the world around us; personal development and mutual understanding; and physical education (physical development and movement in the Foundation Stage).
Cross-curricular skills. Communication, using mathematics and using ICT run through every area, with thinking skills and personal capabilities.
Flexibility for schools. The statutory requirements are broad, and CCEA notes that schools may name the areas differently or teach topics that cut across several.

3 What a lesson looks like

A P2 morning, as an illustration. The class starts on the carpet with a sound of the week and a rhyme, then moves to play-based activities: a shop corner where children price items and count coins, a sand tray for letter formation, a building area where they measure towers with cubes. The teacher works with a small group on blending sounds to read words while a classroom assistant talks with children at the shop about more and fewer. After break comes a story, then outdoor play with a numeracy game chalked on the playground.

4 Reading and math

Language and literacy and mathematics and numeracy are areas of learning from P1, with talking and listening and play at the heart of the Foundation Stage. Schools choose their own reading programmes, so ask which phonics approach your child's school uses and when formal reading books begin. From Key Stage 1, reading, writing and number work become more structured, building toward the four operations, fractions and measures in Key Stage 2.

5 The adult's job

Teachers plan from CCEA's guidance for each key stage and assess progress in communication, using mathematics and using ICT. Parents of P1 and P2 children can expect less formal homework than in England's Year 1, and a lot of learning through play; reading together every day, playing number and board games and talking about the day all support the Foundation Stage.

6 How progress is checked

Teachers assess children against levels of progression in the cross-curricular skills, and schools report to parents each year. There are no statutory national tests in primary school like England's SATs. At the end of Key Stage 4 (Year 12) young people take GCSEs.

7 Strengths and criticisms

Strengths

Two years of play-based learning. The Foundation Stage gives young children time for talk, play and hands-on work before formal lessons.
Clear stages. P1 to P7 in three stages is simple to follow.
Cross-curricular skills. Literacy, numeracy and ICT are every teacher's job, not only one lesson's.

Criticisms and watch-outs

P1 starts very young. A Northern Ireland P1 child is about the age of England's Reception and a US pre-K child. Count by age when comparing systems.
Programmes vary by school. Phonics and maths schemes are chosen locally.
Outside the curriculum. Many families plan around tests for secondary school places that are not part of the statutory curriculum; this page does not cover them.

8 What the research says

This page describes a system rather than testing it. The structure is from CCEA's pages on the Foundation Stage and Key Stages 1 and 2 and from nidirect's guide for parents of 4 to 11 year olds, which lists the areas of learning and notes that schools may call them by different names. The research behind this page did not compare Northern Ireland's results with other systems.

9 How to try it

Play with numbers. In P1 and P2, shop games, counting steps and sharing snacks cover much of the Foundation Stage's numeracy.
Ask about phonics. Find out which programme the school uses and practise the week's sounds at home.
Read every day. Picture books read aloud and talk about them build the language that reading rests on.
Line up the years. P1 here is England's Reception; our curriculum finder puts P1 to P7 and Years 8 to 10 beside US grades.

10 Using Peabody with it

Everything to learnEvery subject by age band, starting with the pre-K band that matches P1.
Numbers on PeabodyCounting and number doors for P1 and P2, and fractions and measures for Key Stage 2.
Virtual manipulativesTen frames, counters and place value charts to use alongside play.
Curriculum finderNorthern Ireland's P1 to P7 beside England's, Scotland's and US grades.

Peabody is free and has no ads. Pages on peabody.kids are for children; pages here are for the adults teaching them.

11 Programs that follow it

Programs and materials often named with this approach: Northern Ireland Curriculum (CCEA), Foundation Stage, Key Stages 1 and 2, GCSEs.

Questions people ask

What age is P1 in Northern Ireland?: About 4 to 5. Children start P1 in the September after their fourth birthday (with a 1 July cut-off), so P1 is about the age of England's Reception and a US pre-K year.
What is the Foundation Stage in Northern Ireland?: The first two years of primary school, P1 and P2, when learning is meant to be play-based and active.
What year is P7 in England?: About Year 6. Northern Ireland's P1 sits beside England's Reception, so P7 is about Year 6 and US 5th grade.

Sources

Curriculum at Key Stages 1 and 2, CCEA.
Foundation Stage, CCEA.
The curriculum for four to 11 year olds, nidirect (Northern Ireland government).

National Curriculum in England: England's year groups, key stages and national checks, with what each year expects in reading and maths and how it lines up with US grades.
Curriculum for Excellence (Scotland): Scotland's curriculum from age 3 to 18: five levels that each span about three school years, P1 to P7 and S1 to S6, and how to follow it.
Ireland's Primary Curriculum: Ireland's eight primary years from Junior Infants to 6th Class, the 2023 Primary Curriculum Framework and new maths, and the tests in 2nd, 4th and 6th.
Play-based learning: Children learn through play they lead, with adults setting up the space and gently steering it toward a goal: the mainstream view of good early teaching.
Every approach in the curriculum guide

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