claireandshaun

Our son will be completing his GCSE's in the uk before we move to perth in july. He will be 17 in september so am I correct in thinking he will have to enrol in a college for January 2013 as the year 12's will be completing their studies?

quoll

He's at a difficult age and you do realize that the college system in Australia is not at all like the UK system - except perhaps in ACT and Tas where colleges go from year 11 - 12. All the other states have years 11 & 12 in High Schools

He might get into TAFE but it all depends on the course he wants to study - they have eligibility requirements and if a year 12 cert is required then he wont have enough. He may have to do his year 11/12 course at TAFE - in fact if you think he has any future in Australia then he will have to get his year 12 cert out of the way otherwise he is not going to be competitive in the workplace. TAFE year 12 courses generally dont give as high scores as schools because the TAFE cohort is often the disaffected dropped out kind of kid (not exclusively, I know) however some TAFE course achievements can be used towards a degree down the track.

If you think he will go down the non academic route, remember that he will be competing with kids who have better academic qualifications than he does to start with so getting a foot on the employment ladder will be tricky.

Are you sure you cant leave him in UK for A levels to be completed then the world will be his oyster.

claireandshaun

would he be able to complete a year 12 certificate at a school then?

chris and farideh

We brought our 17 year old over & he just started in the 6th form college & was very happy with the choice of his subjects & being treated like an adult he was so happy that he no longer need to wear school uniforms.
when we arrived here nearly 5 years ago we went to register him at the local High School we were told he needs to do year 11 which didn't go well with my son at all as he thought he is repeating the year again but he wasn't it's just different system here.
year 11 & 12 is their 2 final year just before going to uni just like UK, he can't just go to year 12 as he needs to choose his subjects for year 11 & 12, my guess is if you come in sept than the school will put him in year 10 to the end of the year this would help him to adjust to the education system & make friends before going to year 11 as these 2 years are so heavy he would be doing so many assignments he won't have time to breath basically,if you can come over earlier & forget about him doing his GSCE as he has no use for them, wish we did that & saved ourselves on all the arguments specially when he had to wear school uniform again.

quoll

Well he would need to do years 11 and 12 and most year 11 kids are just turned or turning 16 so he would be out of sync with his cohort - which is why I suggested finishing A levels as his best option - they travel really well to Australia for university entrance. Theoretically he could go into year 11 but he might be uncomfortable - and the school may be uncomfortable having someone so much older there. TAFE to do year 12 is his best bet. Either that, or as C&F have said, bring him straight away to start year 11. His GCSEs are irrelevant if he is going to spend the rest of his life in Australia but if there is any doubt about that and there is a chance that he would return to UK at some point then he would be better finishing his school education in UK

claireandshaun

Thanks for all the advice. We can't leave the UK until July due to committments etc so it makes sense for him to complete his gsce's here also there are no guarantees that we won't want to return to the UK at some point. Leaving him behind to complete his A levels isn't an option for us as we want to experience a new life in Australia together as a family although I do understand what you're saying quoll. I think we are just going to have to look into it further to decide whether high school or TAFE is the best option.

Turban Explorer

With respect i think you may be putting him at a disadvantage if he is academically minded. He'll need to drop down a year to get the school certificate and/or an OP score (for university entrance you need to be in certain subjects chosen in year 10). You need the certificate for any school leaver job.

TAFE is Australia particular and as Quoll says, more for the 'drop out' members of the school cohort. Trade skills may not be transferable out of Australia.

KJCherokee

There are plenty of '6th form colleges' which only do years 11 & 12 and operate more along the lines of a university e.g. no compulsory attendance at lectures, non-lecture time is for the student to use as he wishes, classes outside normal school hours, etc. My elder daughter went down this route in 1994-5 and got on very well - better than she had been doing in high school.

I don't know how UK year 12 quals are looked at here, nor vice versa, but unless you think you might return to the UK within 3-4 years it's irrelevant as by that time he will have a degree or a technical or trade qualification which will override the school leaving results.

Turban Explorer

I'm thinking that he won't get onto a degree course without OP scores achieved over 11 and 12. Maybe the original poster should examine what credits he can get at a WA school for the GCSE subjects