jamesjack

We have been reading various postings about the VCE being equivalent to 5 GCSE A-C passes.
Our son is taking his GCSEs in May/June 08, and we estimate that we will fly to Melbourne in July/August latest.

He is due to start studying 6th form for International Baccalaureate diploma in September, but obviously we will not be in the UK by then. We are trying therefore to understand what effect (if any) there will be to his studies once we arrive in Oz.

From what I see, the fact that he will have his 5 passes will be enough to see him onto the IBD in a Melbourne school - albeit starting in a different month. What we cannot get a decent answer on is how the school age will affect this - aussies finish VCE at age 15, whereas UK GCSE is 16.

I'm assuming that he will study the IBD with 15 year olds?
Has anyone else got info / experience on this area?

Thanks in advance,
Jamesjack

jad n rich

I think you need to contact the schools for more details. The IB in Queensland is grades 11 and 12 kids are 16 and 17 so in Victoria, kids would be 17 and 18 not 15. Some schools have a preperation year for the IB, which is year 10.

Usually you dont just decide you will 'do it' , schools have very limited places and there is usually far more applicants than places. Competition is pretty harsh especially in a place where there are a lot of international students wanting places, extra demand and extra high standards to compete with. Lots of factors to consider, LOTE is one essential, does the school offer the language your child has studied, that can be tricky, say they learnt french and the school is doing japanese, they may not have the langage component.

Youngest is heading for the IB, preperation to get into it started in grade 6, hundreds of students applied for 20 places of extension work at the high school and a guaranteed place in grade 8 in the advanced academic stream which leads to the selection process for the IB. He got in, so in primary he does some work at the high school already, helpful but not essential in every schools process.

Plenty apply from overseas and some get in, but the application process might be a bit more complicated than you seem to anticipate, the earlier you find out and get into it the better chance you have. Starting the course part way through may be tricky, its the highest level of study and even entering normal 11 or 12 part way through is considered difficult if you want to achieve the desired high results.

scrubbedexpat020

Firstly, see this to understand what the VCE is worth.
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/schooladm....html#H3N100EE
As you can see it is accepted for entry into top UK unis.
Even though this http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/vcere...lentquals.html says the VCE is equivalent to 2 'A' levels and 3 GCSEs.

A general introduction to the VCE which is achieved at 18 same as IB and 'A' levels. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victori...e_of_Education

Here's where you find how well each school did http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/stati...ats/index.html

Not many schools offer IB in Victoria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ramme#Victoria

The VCE is broad and coupled with the Aus approach to education which is more EQ than IQ biased I would say the VCE is a good proxy for the IB. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_intelligence

Your son will be 16 when he arrives in July. Hence, he will be able to join a school half-way in year 11 if he wants to jump a year and be with kids a year older. If he did this he would start the IB/VCE 5/6 months into the school year.

Or he joins half-way through year 10 and chills into Aussie life until year 11 starts beginning of Feb.

Ian

jamesjack

Hi ebo1608,
Thanks for this detailled information - some excellent sources!
The best thing seems to be the fact that he can choose when to start.
I suppose though that it's a gamble to miss 5 months of study.

Am I right in thinking that on a 457 visa, the kids are classed as international students? How does this affect things like catchment areas for schools?

I'm e-mailling a couple of Melbourne IB schools to get more specifc info as well.

Cheers,
Paul.

scrubbedexpat020

Hmmm... Not my area of expertise, mate.

For state schools if you are in the catchment area they have to take the kid.

I don't know about 457 as we got PR. Start a new thread and one of the agents will answer.

If it were my child I would suggest going into year 10, make friends and get used to the new environment, then start year 11 fresh.

Intrigued as to why you are focusing on the IB. I did 'A' levels years ago and regret they made you focus - the VCE is more akin to the IB.

BTW, private schools cost $15-20k a year, Catholic and other religious schols usually come in at less than $5k. Expect to pay $1k in a state school. You have to buy books, outings, et al.

Ian

jamesjack

Hi Ian,
I can understand you asking this, especially with the massive difference in costs.
Our son is planning to be a dentist, and we had lined up his GCSEs and applied for his IB in the UK already (before the job offer arrived!).
Aside from the sciences, one of his key areas is Spanish.

We are not confident that the VCE will give him what he needs, especially with the international flexibility of the IBD. Obviously if we were satisfied that the VCE was as good, then we would go for that based on the costs alone.

I'll be speaking with Wesley college on Monday, so maybe they will give me a better idea first hand. I will post a summary of the discussion.

Paul.

scrubbedexpat020

Not many schools offering Spanish

http://schlprv.vcaa.vic.edu.au/schoo...earch/#studies

Shame really as it is one of the world languages alongside Mandarin.

That's the big thing that has disappointed me about the Aus system.

Indonesian is the main Asian language and French and Italian seem to be the favourite European languages to offer.

Hopefully Mandarin will become more prevalent with our Kevin007 leading the way.

Ian