Garsimm

Hi

Hopefully we will be moving to Melbourne next summer after my son has sat his GCSEs in UK. Can anyone tell me what the options are for further education; i.e is there an equivalent to the UK's AS and A level system. Does anyone have knowledge of the Australian college system. It might be that further academic study is not my son's choice and he may choose to study at our equivalent of a technical college.

We will obviously do our own extended research into this subject but would be grateful for any input from those of you who moved Down Under with children in the same situation.

Many thanks

Gary

jayneydiddle

we are in exactly the same situation and will hopefully be moving after our daughter has taken her gcse's. can anyone help?

Wetropolis

There's gonna be a few of us because thats what were doing hopefully, Melbourne as well. Any ideas of where you're gonna live yet?

It seems to us that there is only 1 year for what we would call sixth form but all of my emails to Melbourne schools up to present have been ignored.

Juliecabs

We're going to be in the same situation although we're off to Brisbane.
Try these websites for more info:

www.det.vic.gov.au

www.vta.vic.edu.au

Julie

Garsimm

No, no idea where we'll be settling down, but obviously want to get the lad's schooling squared away.

jjonboy

the equivalent of technical colleges are called TAFE try searching on goole on tafe victoria or similar

Vanessa

We have had exactly the same problem. Make sure that you get final certificate for his exams and then you can send them to the education department who in turn will give you the equivalent gradings for here. There are lots of options for further studies either accademic or trade based. The TAFE colleges do every subject you can think of. It is a mine field though wading your way through it. You do tend to get sent from pillar to post. Our 'boy' didn't want to do anything but play xbox so we took him yesterday to WA and he is jackerooing for 3 months. His dad took him and had to drive 4 hours outside Perth. Very remote. I do feel sorry for him though because the mobile phone doesn't work there - we will need to sort something out for him so that he can contact home.

IndieG

Hi,
I have an excellent guide called 'ABC of Applying' (applicable if you are moving to Victoria). This guide provides 'tips about applying for study at a tertiary institution in Victoria, and answers to those tricky questions' .


IG

Swerv-o

My understanding is that kids stay in Au schools until they are 18, when they do the Higher School Certificate (or state equivalent exam), and then they are able to move onto TAFE or Uni, depending on how they do. I don't think that there is an option to leave school at 16 and go onto college like there is in the UK.

If I'm wrong on this let me know, as a family I know aren't going to bother with their sons GCSE's, and just let let him do his HSC's whe they get to Oz. They felt that it wasn't really fair to make him do a set of GCSE's and then two years later another set of HSC's, though I guess this is what would happen if he did his A levels

S

Garsimm

Many thanks for your responses, they have been a great help.

Gary

Swerv-o

Ooops,

You'd better ignore this lot, as it appears that I may well have been talking out of my a**e.

In NSW at least, students may leave school after they have taken their School Certificate at the end of year 10, age 15. They can then get a job, or if they wish, they may stay and take their Higher School Certificate through years 11 and 12, or they may apply for a TAFE position and study a vocational subject. They may also complete their HSC at TAFE too if they wish.

I think that my friends have got it all wrong, but they are moving to SA, where all the rules may well be different again.

You're best bet is to approach the relevant Department of Education.

S

NickyC

You're quite right. Almost all kids stay on at school until they've done their HSC (or final year exams). These are the equivalents to A levels. There are FEW areas that follow a collegiate system (ACT for example) where the kids finish 'school' at 16 and then go to 'college' for their final two years, but this is not common.

There is a bit of a stigma attached to children who don't do their HSC (or equivalent) and who finish their education at 16. The only exception are kids who are going to do trade-type training via an apprenticeship, which may involve doing some time at a TAFE.

In NSW, it is possible to do the final two years of schooling at a TAFE college and get an equivalent qualification to the HSC - but these courses are not really designed for 16-18 year-olds. They are mainly for older people who dropped out of school too early and wish to go back to get basic qualifications. It's not the ideal place for a 16-17 year old to go to replace the last two years of school.