It is not a group 1 seat. It is a multi stage seat, agreed not the most suitable for group 1 but it does cater for group 2 (high back booster). Group 3 the backless booster is not of much consequence given the backless booster is not recommended if you can avoid it and given it comes with a backrest and all the classmates will now be encouraged to stay in the high back booster for longer it comes with a backrest so I don't see an advantage to removing it.

what a foolish comment. Try keeping any 2-4 year in a rear-facing seat (if you can find one​ to fit that age...!), and you'll have one of two things: either a crying/shouting/complaining child OR the seat (in which you put it) being kicked/worn/damaged.
AND before you say "well, that's better than the child being hurt" I can assure you it is very impractical and off-putting when driving. :stuck_out_tongue:

They are safe. They are just not as safe as ERF seats

​Unfortunately most people don't know about the risks associated with front facing seats. The law is slowly catching up with research but it will be many years before it becomes compulsory to have rear facing toddlers, during which time hundreds will have been killed unnecessarily as a result of front facing. Many European countries, in particular Scandinavia have kept their children rear facing for longer for decades.

I didn't know this seat was so unsafe? My partners mum has it for our 7 year old, which seat would you recommend? We also have a two year old in a britax and a new born in a silver cross one. Can you recommend ones that you thinks are the safest? Thanks

​some have more legroom than others but it's not really an issue as their legs can easily be crossed if necessary. Legs aren't a huge concern as they'll find somewhere comfortable to put them. The important thing is supporting the neck and back properly in a crash. Certain seats (besafe izi modular is one I can think of) have huge amounts of legroom leg room and is rear facing to 18kg (4 years).

The fact that your children were front facing is irrelevant really - when I was younger I was in the back with no seatbelt, let alone a car seat. Fortunately I was never in an accident. The fact is there is huge amounts of evidence to support the safety advantages of rear facing, Whether people choose to ignore this evidence is entirely up to them. Eventually the law will catch up and make it a legal requirement to stay rear facing for longer. It's already moving in the right direction with booster cushions being banned, and i-size seats having to be rear facing until 15 months, but there's still a long way to go.
As I said, its entirely up to you what you decide to buy for your own offspring. The vast majority of people will be fine as they won't ever be involved in an accident, but those unfortunate or careless enough to be involved in a serious collision may regret going for the forward facing option.

​their legs are bent either at the knees or some kids sit frog leg style. They are not uncomfortable though. The seats sit further back from the back of the seat. In Scandinavia all kids are rear facing for the past number of years until school age. It is just a cultural change here. Takes a bit of time to get your head around it. :smiley:

It's actually very comfortable to sit rear facing, even for a 6 year old. It's very good for them to have their legs supported, and the bigger rear facing seats are not like infant carriers, they do have a gap between the child seat and the backrest of the vehicle seat that they are installed on. When we do long journeys our younger daughter (will be 5 years old in three months and sits rear facing) never mentions her legs, the complaints we get are from our 8 year old daughter in her high backed booster! Her legs and thighs ache because they are just dangling off the front of the seat. We have to pack the footwell with soft bags so she can rest her feet on something and lift her thighs up off the seat to relieve the pressure. Rear facing is so much safer and more comfortable!

For optimum safety you really should only consider rear facing until at least 4 years old. The strictest car seat test in the world is the Swedish plus test. This is the only test that measures forces on the child's neck. All of the seats that have passed the test are rear facing.
You can't go wrong with seats made be Besafe or Axkid. Some only install with a seatbelt but this is just as safe as Isofix if installed properly and has the added advantage allowing the child to stay in the seat until they are bigger/heavier. (Isofix points have a weight limit of 30kg including seat which means once the child is 18kg, approx. 4 years they will need a new seat)
The safest seats tend to be more expensive, largely to do with development costs, but they are all very well made, and to a certain extent you get what you pay for. I would recommend the Axkid Minikid or the Besafe Izi modular. They're not cheap, £300- £400 but worth it if you want the absolute safest seat you can buy. Britax also do a good range of rear facing seats, which will almost all be safer than front facing.
Google Swedish plus test and rear facing toddlers and there is a wealth of information available online.