Hi all,

I'm moving back to Oz next year after an 18 year absence and one thing I'm not sure of is what year my eldest son will have to go into. He is 15 and born August 1995. Here in the UK he is in year 11 (and one of the yongest in his year), am I right in thinking he has to go into year 10 as he will be 15 going on 16 during the Australian academic year? Or would he able to start year 11 in Australia as a 15 year old? I'm a little confused on this.

Any advice on this would be helpful.

Thanks, Di

Hi Di,

I am sure that others can give you more accurate advice however I have an 11 year old who is sept 1999, he is in grade 5 at the min having been the oldest in year 5 in the UK (would now be year 6). To my mind that would make your 15 year old sit nicely in the middle of grade 10!
Hope that is some help.
Sonia

It depends on the state you're going to and when you plan to return. If he started Year 11 in the UK in September and you're planning to come here before the end of this academic year, he'll probably go into year 10. If you plan on starting him at school in January 2011, he'll probably go into Year 11 as he's already completed year 10. We've just returned to Australia from the British system and my kids are doing one term of the year they just finished in the British system in June, and then they will go up next year. My youngest should only be in Grade one here in Queensland according to her birth date, but she is now doing one more term of Grade 2 and will go into Grade 3 in January. If you know where your son is going to school, it's best to zap them an email and they'll be able to tell you where you stand.

Which state?

EG Youngest Son is november 1996 so 14 soon and going into grade 10 in qld in jan 11. Last year of high school here is grade 12 so he finishes that just before his 17th birthday.

QLD system is different for children born more recently, and in other states eg victoria/NSW he would only be going into grade 9 next year.

My daughter started school out here in Sydney in Sept 2008, having completed yr 7 a girl's grammar school in the UK, and so had to do another term in yr 7 here. She was also 2 years ahead in her languages and now, at the end of grade 9 has only just caught up with where she was in the UK. She is 15 in January. Do I think she should have gone into yr8 when she arrived? Yes and no: yes because she was going over old ground, and no, because socially she was not at year 8 level(some of them were 2 years older): it was good for her to have it easy while she found her feet and got used to the different country, system and people. She is flourishing here and has lots of friends, is more socially adept and confident, and apart from school exams next week, is generally having a good time.

A whole load of kids here in QLD have recently been turning 14 in my daughters year, (Yr 9).

Therefore year 10 will have kids turning 15 in the last few months.

This would mean that your child is on par with QLD year 10 kids at the moment, therefore starting year 11 in 2011.

Thanks for your replies. My son will be going to school in Vic around April next year.

Di x

Hi di,

My son is the same age as your, end July 1995 and was due to start year 11 in England but we moved over here in August so he has a few months etc in year 10 over here, this is not a bad thing for them to get used to the way of teaching over here, as its a really important year for them in Jan when they will be starting year 11 and taking their exams

good luck in your move

From something I worked out for Victoria some time back:

All i'd recommend is don't let them put your child back a year!

My daughter was 15 when we arrived and because it was March (year starting in Jan) the school though it good she went back a year.

BIG mistake if your child is academic. Even my then 13yr old was shocked to be just starting algebra here. Apparently he started that 2 years ago in the UK he told me, but hey, they do a lot of sports here! ...

We start it late as we pick things up a lot quicker