Schools in Jersey, Channel Islands: how the system works and what it costs

Two fee-paying States colleges, Victoria College (boys) and Jersey College for Girls, charge about £2,900 a term, far below UK independent fees. Private schools include Beaulieu, De La Salle, FCJ and St Michael's. Children get 30 free nursery hours a week, term time, in the year they turn four. Mid-year arrivals are usually placed within ten school days.

Jersey runs its own education system. It is not part of England's, though it looks similar: the same key stages, GCSEs and A levels, a September start, and children starting Reception in the school year they turn five. There are three tiers of school and the names can mislead, so here is the map.

The three tiers

1. Non-fee-paying States schools

Free, run by the Government of Jersey, and the choice for most families. There are 24 States primary schools, at least one in every parish and several in St Helier, and five mainstream secondaries: Grainville, Haute Vallée, Le Rocquier, Les Quennevais and Hautlieu. The first four take pupils from Year 7. Hautlieu is different and selective, taking pupils only from Year 10 on the basis of Year 9 assessments (a CAT score of 109 or above plus 103 in English and maths), and it runs the island's main sixth form with A levels and the International Baccalaureate^†. Hautlieu is free.

Standards are generally good and class sizes are often smaller than in England. Inspection is done by the Jersey Schools Review Framework rather than Ofsted, and reports are published on gov.je.

2. Fee-paying States schools

This is the category that confuses UK parents. Victoria College (boys, 11 to 18, in St Helier) and Jersey College for Girls (girls, 11 to 18, in St Saviour) are government schools that charge fees. The Government subsidises them, so the fees are a fraction of a UK independent school's. Each has a linked prep school: Victoria College Preparatory School (boys, from Year 3) and Jersey College Preparatory School (girls, from Reception^†).

Both colleges are academically selective at 11 and both are oversubscribed, so apply early. They manage their own admissions, not the central system.

3. Private schools

Fully independent, mostly Catholic in foundation, and co-ed or single-sex depending on the school.

• Beaulieu Convent School (girls, secondary and sixth form, St Helier) with Beaulieu Primary.
• De La Salle College (boys, 11 to 18, St Saviour) with De La Salle Primary. Fees were £2,952 a term from September 2024^†.
• FCJ Primary School (co-ed, St Saviour).
• St Michael's Preparatory School (co-ed, to Year 9, St Saviour), the island's main co-ed prep. Fees are higher than the States colleges^†.
• St George's Preparatory School (co-ed, St Peter), set in a country house with its own grounds.
• Helvetia House School (girls, primary, St Helier).

Private school fees are still well under what you would pay in London, broadly £9,000 to £17,000 a year rather than £25,000 plus^†.

Catchments and admissions for States schools

Every address has a catchment primary and a catchment secondary. If your catchment school is full you are offered the nearest with space. Priority at oversubscribed schools goes to looked-after children, those with specific special educational needs, then siblings, then catchment.

• Reception: register with your catchment school by 1 November the year before your child starts. Forms go out in November, you can list up to three preferences, and offers arrive by the end of January.
• Year 7: children at States primaries are allocated a place at a States secondary automatically, with offers emailed in January. Out-of-catchment requests are decided by the end of February.
• Moving mid-year: this is most newcomers. You apply online through gov.je/schooladmissions once you have a Jersey address. Places are allocated at most one term before your arrival date, and most children start within ten school days of a complete application. Applications in the last ten days of a term roll to the next term, and nothing is processed in the holidays.

You will need proof of your Jersey address (lease or utility bill within three months), the child's passport and birth certificate, ID for everyone with parental responsibility, immigration permission if relevant, and the most recent school report. Email schooladmissions@gov.je with questions.

Free States education requires appropriate immigration status, which is automatic for British and Irish citizens.

Nurseries and early years

Free hours

Every child gets up to 30 free hours a week, term time only (38 weeks), in the school year they turn four, through the Nursery Education Fund. You can use them at a States primary school nursery class or at an NEF-registered private nursery. You only pay for hours above 30. Childminders cannot provide NEF hours.

Two to three year olds

A new scheme from January 2026 pays families up to about £6,270 a school year towards registered childcare for children aged two to three, with no work, income or residency test. It is paid in arrears in up to three instalments against receipts. Applications opened online in February 2026. Children with developmental needs can get up to 12 free hours a week through the Jersey Child Care Trust's Best Start Plus programme.

Fees before funding

Full-time private nursery for an under-three runs roughly £80 to £110 a day in 2026, or £19,000 to £27,000 a year^†. Nurseries with good reputations have waiting lists, so register as soon as you know you are moving. Registered childcare costs also raise your income tax exemption threshold if you are on the marginal rate.

Sixth form and beyond

A levels are available at Hautlieu (free), Victoria College, JCG, Beaulieu and De La Salle. Highlands College offers vocational courses, apprenticeships and some degree programmes. There is no university on the island; most students go to the UK and Jersey students pay UK home fees, with means-tested grants from the Government of Jersey subject to a residency requirement^†.

A few things UK parents notice

• The school year and holidays are close to England's but not identical. Check the gov.je term dates before booking flights.
• Many States schools have strong links with sport, sailing and the beach. Surf lessons as PE are not unusual in the west.
• Jèrriais, the island's Norman language, is taught in some primaries as an option.
• School uniform is universal, including at primaries.
• Children's dental care is free at the hospital until the end of primary school, and the Jersey Dental Scheme helps with the cost after that.
• The island is small, so your children's friends live ten minutes away and the "school run" is often a walk or a bus.

Frequently asked questions

^† Figure still being checked against its source before launch.