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what's the equivalent of gcse's here to american education?

what's the equivalent of gcse's here to american education?

Old Oct 9th 2007, 10:08 pm
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Default what's the equivalent of gcse's here to american education?

my daughter & i are moving to las vegas as soon as i sort out a school for her there, hopefully before the end of the year. i'm just wondering what's the equivalent of gcse's here in uk to american education because she's in her 11th year and suppose to have her gcse's on april next year.
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Old Oct 9th 2007, 10:11 pm
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Default is abbey national a stable bank?

heard from someone today that abbey national will be or has been taken over by a spanish institution. i just want to make sure i'm banking in a stable bank since i'll be moving to the u.s.a. very soon.
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Old Oct 9th 2007, 10:36 pm
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Default Re: what's the equivalent of gcse's here to american education?

Originally Posted by happyascanbe
my daughter & i are moving to las vegas as soon as i sort out a school for her there, hopefully before the end of the year. i'm just wondering what's the equivalent of gcse's here in uk to american education because she's in her 11th year and suppose to have her gcse's on april next year.
There's no equivalent. She will need to graduate US high school, and at around 16 she should have ample time to learn and do the stuff required for this. Just sign her on for the second semester after Xmas when you arrive. Make sure she has a letter-headed list of the jabs she's already had -- otherwise she'll be having them again, probably at your expense. You can sign her on when she gets here.
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Old Oct 10th 2007, 1:04 am
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Default Re: what's the equivalent of gcse's here to american education?

Originally Posted by happyascanbe
my daughter & i are moving to las vegas as soon as i sort out a school for her there, hopefully before the end of the year. i'm just wondering what's the equivalent of gcse's here in uk to american education because she's in her 11th year and suppose to have her gcse's on april next year.
4 year bachelors degree

if she gets an A* in at least 3 subjects thats a masters...
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Old Oct 10th 2007, 1:49 am
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Default Re: what's the equivalent of gcse's here to american education?

http://www.britishcouncil.org/usa-ed...k-glossary.htm

G
GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) – formerly known as O-levels. A single-subject exam taken upon completion of two years of study at the age of 16 (age at US 10th grade).

Students take anywhere between 5-10 subjects, which, if passed, are generally considered equivalent to a US high school diploma.

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=322558
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Old Oct 10th 2007, 7:20 am
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Default Re: what's the equivalent of gcse's here to american education?

Originally Posted by BritGuyTN
4 year bachelors degree

if she gets an A* in at least 3 subjects thats a masters...
...love it

I keep saying it at home ...the wife gets mad, the step kids roll their eyes, but the average American education is poor. They are as thick as two short planks...
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Old Oct 10th 2007, 12:59 pm
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Default Re: what's the equivalent of gcse's here to american education?

Originally Posted by BritGuyTN
4 year bachelors degree

if she gets an A* in at least 3 subjects thats a masters...
Too bloody funny. Had me laughing out loud, that did!
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Old Oct 10th 2007, 3:17 pm
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Default Re: what's the equivalent of gcse's here to american education?

Originally Posted by penguinsix
http://www.britishcouncil.org/usa-ed...k-glossary.htm

G
GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) – formerly known as O-levels. A single-subject exam taken upon completion of two years of study at the age of 16 (age at US 10th grade).

Students take anywhere between 5-10 subjects, which, if passed, are generally considered equivalent to a US high school diploma.

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=322558
High school diploma is equall to 5 GCSE's at C+, this info was given to me by the head of international admissions at the UEA (UK), he himself was American, and told me that to go to uni in the UK you would require, AP/IB from the US and that highj school diploma is not good enough for Uk university.
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Old Oct 10th 2007, 3:21 pm
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Default Re: what's the equivalent of gcse's here to american education?

Originally Posted by fatbrit
There's no equivalent. She will need to graduate US high school, and at around 16 she should have ample time to learn and do the stuff required for this. Just sign her on for the second semester after Xmas when you arrive. Make sure she has a letter-headed list of the jabs she's already had -- otherwise she'll be having them again, probably at your expense. You can sign her on when she gets here.
ITA there is no equivalent to GCSE's, Ap/IB are considered equivalent to A levels in terms of uni acceptance.

If your daughter has any intention of going to Uni in the Uk she will need the AP/IB.

Deffo do as fatbrit said re injections, its very costly if not as I found out!
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Old Oct 10th 2007, 3:23 pm
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Default Re: what's the equivalent of gcse's here to american education?

Originally Posted by happyascanbe
my daughter & i are moving to las vegas as soon as i sort out a school for her there, hopefully before the end of the year. i'm just wondering what's the equivalent of gcse's here in uk to american education because she's in her 11th year and suppose to have her gcse's on april next year.
Is there no way you can hold off untill shes taken her exams?

Transition with the GCse is much easier I believe.
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Old Oct 10th 2007, 3:27 pm
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Default Re: what's the equivalent of gcse's here to american education?

Originally Posted by penguinsix
http://www.britishcouncil.org/usa-ed...k-glossary.htm

G
GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) – formerly known as O-levels. A single-subject exam taken upon completion of two years of study at the age of 16 (age at US 10th grade).

Students take anywhere between 5-10 subjects, which, if passed, are generally considered equivalent to a US high school diploma.

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=322558


Heres the answer from the link you gave.




"Although there are no official equivalencies between the US and UK
education systems, most UK and US educators agree that a US high
school diploma (without AP courses) can be roughly compared to five
GCSE passes at grade C and above."



So yes if your child was going to take only 5 subjects its equivalent but if not its pretty crap IMHO.

Our daughter is taking 11 GCSE subjects, which is why we were not prepared to take the risk of her only getting a high school diploma.

Meaning if your child leaves a US school with a high school diploma they are 2 years behind children in the Uk with 5 or more GCSE and A levels.

If a child wanted to go to a UK uni but only had a diploma they would have to do either A levels or an access course first.

Last edited by loopylorns; Oct 10th 2007 at 3:30 pm.
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Old Oct 10th 2007, 3:42 pm
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Default Re: what's the equivalent of gcse's here to american education?

Originally Posted by loopylorns
ITA there is no equivalent to GCSE's, Ap/IB are considered equivalent to A levels in terms of uni acceptance.

If your daughter has any intention of going to Uni in the Uk she will need the AP/IB.

Deffo do as fatbrit said re injections, its very costly if not as I found out!
I think it also depends on your grade point averages.
Our high school does do AP/IB but even without opting for those we still have some people who have gone onto UK universities but they do have very high GPA's.

I know two teenagers here who have gone to uni in the UK and one had the IB diploma and one didn't.

High schools here vary widely.
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Old Oct 11th 2007, 3:29 am
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Default Re: is abbey national a stable bank?

Originally Posted by happyascanbe
heard from someone today that abbey national will be or has been taken over by a spanish institution. i just want to make sure i'm banking in a stable bank since i'll be moving to the u.s.a. very soon.
Get a first direct account (part of the HSBC group) and you can internet bank easily ...
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Old Oct 11th 2007, 4:05 pm
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Default Re: what's the equivalent of gcse's here to american education?

Originally Posted by Circus-of-Power
...love it

I keep saying it at home ...the wife gets mad, the step kids roll their eyes, but the average American education is poor. They are as thick as two short planks...
Interesting you should say that as I have a true story to relate.

My daughter and I went on a cruise on the River Nile last month and had a local well-educated English -speaking guide around the historical sites during our week on the boat and in Luxor. He recounted to us that his friend, another tour guide on a Nile boat, had a few days previously been guiding a group of US tourists. One of the wonderful experiences on the Nile is, of course the Tombs in Valleys of Kings and Queens, Tutenkahmun etc and which are on the west bank on the opposite side of the river to Luxor.

As is the norm, the US tourists were told they were going over to the west bank early the following morning to beat the high temperatures. It was on their itinerary, again as is the norm. Later on that evening after dinner one of the US tourists approached the guide and said he had been delegated as the spokesman of the group ( about 12 strong he told us) and that they had had a meeting and decided that they had no intention of going to the west bank as they were afraid of the violence.
The incredulous guide could not get them to understand that the west bank of the Nile in Egypt was not the West Bank of the River Jordan in Palestine, and several thousand miles away to boot.
So if that is the standard of education in the USA I can quite see why there are queries.

Last edited by CarolineW; Oct 11th 2007 at 4:13 pm.
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Old Oct 11th 2007, 4:41 pm
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Default Re: what's the equivalent of gcse's here to american education?

Originally Posted by CarolineW

As is the norm, the US tourists were told they were going over to the west bank early the following morning to beat the high temperatures. It was on their itinerary, again as is the norm. Later on that evening after dinner one of the US tourists approached the guide and said he had been delegated as the spokesman of the group ( about 12 strong he told us) and that they had had a meeting and decided that they had no intention of going to the west bank as they were afraid of the violence.
The incredulous guide could not get them to understand that the west bank of the Nile in Egypt was not the West Bank of the River Jordan in Palestine, and several thousand miles away to boot.
So if that is the standard of education in the USA I can quite see why there are queries.

I'm sure you could find 12 stupid people anywhere and they won't be representative of the educational standards of the country they come from.
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