The Student Transfer Simulator compares the education route a student may encounter when moving between two national systems, with attention to examinations, pathway choices, qualifications, graduation checkpoints, and later entry routes. It is intended for transfer-planning questions that go beyond a simple age-to-grade comparison.
International school move
Student transfer simulator
Preview the typical stage, route structure, examinations, and pathway differences a student may encounter when moving between systems.
What the Student Transfer Simulator Compares
The simulator uses information documented for the selected education systems to compare the part of each route relevant to the student and the major checkpoints represented in their Education Passport routes. The comparison focuses on what may happen around and after the transfer point, including examinations, subject choices, academic or vocational branches, school-leaving qualifications, and progression toward higher education or other routes.
The student’s age helps locate the relevant part of each education pathway. It should not be treated as a prediction of the exact grade or year that a receiving school will assign. For a direct comparison of the typical school stage associated with a student’s age, use the School Grade Converter.
Transfer Route Differences
Students moving at a similar point in their education can enter systems with very different progression rules. One system may keep students in a common curriculum while another introduces subject specialization, an academic or vocational split, a national examination, or a qualification decision at the same general stage.
The simulator is designed to surface these route differences. A transfer during secondary education, for example, may place a student close to an examination cycle, subject-selection deadline, vocational entry point, school-leaving certificate, or university preparation route that did not exist in the previous system.
What the Simulator Does Not Decide
The simulator does not make an official placement decision, transfer credits, validate transcripts, recognize qualifications, determine immigration eligibility, or guarantee admission to a school, programme, college, or university.
Those decisions belong to the relevant school, education authority, examination body, admissions institution, credential-recognition service, or other responsible organization.
Where the Information Comes From
The simulator uses structured information from Education Benchmark country guides and Education Passport routes. Country guides reference sources such as ministries of education, public education authorities, examination bodies, qualification agencies, universities, statistical organizations, and other official or institutional sources relevant to each system.
Examinations, Pathways, and Qualifications
A transfer result may show broadly comparable school stages while the routes surrounding those stages remain different. Curriculum structure, subject selection, examination timing, graduation requirements, qualification names, and later admission routes can all affect what a student encounters after moving.
Particular attention should be given to the points where students choose subjects, academic and vocational routes separate, examinations affect progression, school-leaving qualifications are awarded, or eligibility for the next stage changes.
Example Use
A student moving to another country during secondary education can use the simulator to compare the route ahead in both systems. The result may show that the destination introduces a national examination, a subject-selection point, a vocational branch, or a school-leaving qualification earlier or later than the student’s current system. The relevant Education Passport can then be used to examine those transition points in more detail.
Transfer Decisions That Require Official Verification
- Exact grade or year placement
- Recognition of completed coursework
- Transfer of credits or subject results
- Required transcripts and certified documents
- Language-support requirements
- Eligibility for examination or qualification routes
- Graduation requirements
- University or postsecondary admission consequences
Explore the Destination Education Route
Use the country education guides for detailed information about school levels, compulsory education, examinations, grading, qualifications, and higher education pathways. The Education Passports focus on the transition points, examinations, pathway choices, qualifications, and progression routes within each system.
Need an Age-to-Grade Comparison?
If the question is which typical grade or school stage corresponds to a student’s age in two countries, use the School Grade Converter. That tool is limited to age-based school-stage matching rather than transfer-route consequences.
Methodology
The simulator treats education systems as structured pathways rather than interchangeable grade labels. Age is used to locate the relevant part of a route, while the comparison focuses on examinations, qualifications, pathway choices, progression points, and other structural differences surrounding a transfer. It does not treat a route comparison as an official placement or qualification-recognition decision. The site’s wider approach to definitions, comparisons, dates, and limitations is described on the About Education Benchmark page.