At EU 25 a fitted shoe should still leave 12 to 17 mm in front of the toes, the range Austrian researchers set because a foot this age outgrows a 12 mm margin in about a month.
CM to EU conversion
From centimetres to EU kids' sizes the offset grows from 9 to 14 with no reset, since EU counts straight up: 16 cm is EU 26 and 22 cm is EU 35.5. This is the steadier way to size a growing child, because the EU number never doubles back the way US and UK do. Measuring the foot and reading to EU gives one rising scale, so the only judgement left is how much growing room to add on top.
At this size, CM to EU
One size up from 15.5 cm, EU moves 1 to EU 26 while the metric length rises 0.5 to 16 cm. 15.5 cm is itself a half step yet meets a whole EU 25. For 15.5 cm, the EU column here runs EU 24, EU 25, EU 26, stepping a full number at a time.
Foot length vs shoe length
A CM shoe size is your measured foot length, not the space inside the shoe.
Brands add 0.5 to 1.0 cm of toe room so your toes clear the front. Japanese cm
labels already include about 1 cm of it, so a JP 24.0 measures near 25 cm
inside; an EU number instead describes the last. That built-in gap is why
conversion tables disagree.
Why one foot length gives many sizes
Size Chart CM EU US UK 15 24 8 7 15.5 25 8.5 7.5 16 26 9 8 16.5 27 9.5 8.5 17 28 10 9
Frequently Asked Questions Does 15.5 cm round up or down in EU? Round up rather than down: a growing foot closes a larger gap fast, while a short shoe forces the toes to curl. The plus12 gauge adds the first 12 mm for you.
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Note Kids sizes transition to adult sizes around EU 38 / US 5 Children's feet grow rapidly - remeasure every 3-4 months Allow 10-15mm growing room when fitting Shoe sizes can vary by brand and style See a number that looks off? Report an error on this page.