Alan Prout

Hi all,

My middle child is currently in year 10 in the UK (14 yrs old) and due to take his GCSE's in 2007.
The family hope to emmigrate as soon as my wife has completed her degree next year but we worry about our son leaving his education in this country and not being able to pick up at the same level in Canada.
We have tried researching over various sites but with no joy. So if anybody out there can tell me if my son would be best placed to finish his education in the UK or, depending on what's required in Canada, move over ASAP and obtain qualifications there.
He is actually due to take his French GCSE next year so will at least have one relevant qualification.

Regards
Al

dbd

If you have not yet started the immigration process it would be an option for him to take an undergraduate degree in the UK and then a Masters in Canada.

Judy in Calgary

Welcome to the forum, Al.
If dbd means what I think he means, he's referring to the fact that the immigration process is taking so long these days that your concern is unfounded. I was about to say as much myself, but without dbd's deft turn of phrase.

Oddly, since this is a forum for British expats, I'm not from the UK. From what I know of the British education system third hand and from what I've read here, "O levels" (if they're still called that) are about the equivalent of grade 11 in Canada. In order to graduate from a Canadian high school and be admitted to a Canadian university, a student who had O levels under his belt would need to do one more year of Canadian high school, namely, grade twelve.

If a British student has the requisite A levels, he (or she, of course) can go straight into undergraduate studies at a Canadian university. I have a vague recollection of reading here or elsewhere that a British student with A levels may even get one or two credits for first year university courses in Canada. But don't quote me on that point.

In any event, if you want to see what the Canadian university entry requirements are, your best bet is to look at the web sites of a couple of likely universities.

I think it makes sense for your son to continue his schooling in the UK and work towards his GCSEs in 2007. Then, as he approaches the point of getting his GCSEs, you can reassess the situation in the light of the progress that your application for immigration seems to be making.

Another option that you might want to consider, although I don't know whether or not it's too late for that, is to enroll your son in an International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Each Canadian city of any appreciable size has a handful of high schools that offer the IB curriculum. It has the advantage of being an internationally recognised high school qualification. My understanding is that enrolling in an IB program would make it relatively easy for your son to transfer from a school in one country to a school in another country. Suppose we're unduly optimistic and assume he would have completed IB's grade eleven by the time you relocated to Canada. He then would be able to slip into IB's grade twelve at a Canadian school with no problem -- as I understand the system. But I gather the IB program is fairly demanding from an academic point of view, and in Canada at least it is not every student who is capable of doing it.

You mentioned the possibility of your son's moving over to Canada to study ASAP. I think that's a non-starter, unless money is no object for you. A high school education that was free to a local resident would cost your son in the neighbourhood of 10,000 CAD a year if he came to Canada as a foreign student. That would be for tuition alone. You would have to pay for his living costs on top of that.

If you come here as permanent residents (PRs), your children will be eligible for free schooling in the public or Catholic school systems, both of which are funded by tax payers. If one of your children is ready to enter university when you arrive as PRs, he'll have to pay university tuition fees. However, those fees will be set at the lower rate that is charged to Canadian residents, rather than the considerably higher rate that is charged to foreign students. (Foreign students' university tuition fees are something like three times higher than local students' fees.)

If you come to Canada on a work permit, which you may resort to doing as it takes a shorter time to obtain than a permanent residence permit, different school jurisdictions will treat your children differently. The public and Catholic schools in Calgary treat the children of work permit holders as if they're Canadian residents. That is, they provide free schooling. From what I've read on the Internet, that is true of the public and Catholic schools in Ontario as well. However, it is not the case in every Canadian school jurisdiction. Some public and Catholic schools charge the children of work permit holders about 10,000 CAD a year for tuition. This can differ from one city to another in the same province.

Here is a fairly recent thread in which GCSEs were discussed. As so often is the case, there are many detours along the way, and you have to read through all the messages to find the information you want.

If you do a word search for GCSE and narrow it down to the Canada Lifestyle & Culture forum, you'll find many previous threads.

Hope that helps.

Helen Parnell

We had a friend who's son was in grade 10 in the uk and moved over here. The school took account of what he had already done and even though should have gone into grade 10 here for his age group he was moved to grade 11 educationally. The same was done for their daughter who instead of going into grade 9 went straight into grade 10. Afew things to consider. To get a decent job after leaving school or to go to university or college your son will have to a grade 12 diploma or eqvalent (A levels). If you leave school before grade 12 (around age 17/18) then you are a drop out and will have to go back later if you want a job that pays a living wage. The school grade system starts later (age 6 for grade 1) My son is in his correct age group for his grade, which is grade 8 but in England he would have be in grade 9 (England does an extra year) You can easily move your child up a grade like my friends did if they are educationally bright but remember then that when all their friends are driving ... your child can not, and to going drinking in Canada, you have to be 18 to get in the bars, your 17 old child may not appreciate being able to go to university and sitting outside the bar!!

Helen Parnell

I forgot to add above, if you come over make sure that you bring with you reports and assessments and exam marks from your sons school, plus what the curriculum included so that the school here can assess what he has already done. It took my friends ages to get the information from the English school to get their son assessed when they could have brought it all with them if they had known

dbd

That is what I was driving at though wilfully obscure or simply "awkward" might be a better description than "deft".

Alan Prout

Thanks to all of you who replied - and so soon!

You have confirmed what we knew was the right thing to do so we're going to get the application started and see where all the boys are with their education when (hopefully) we are accepted by the Canadian Government.

I have a suspicion that there will be many things over the coming months that I may need advice with and won't hesitate to post on here.
Thanks again for all of your help

Al