I have certainly found that within one school different year cohorts can have quite different vibes, even where many parents have kids two years apart (say in yr 2 and yr4 those two grades can still have an overall different "feel"). But even acknowledging that I think the PP is spot on, the other yr level may have a different vibe but there is likely a certain amount of your own fear speaking there.
He's asking for the skip, that was probably the primary driver of our DDs skip and we've not looked back.
