Tripitaka

I have a couple of questions on this that I can't find teh answers to either here or by googling in general. If I've missed something obvious, I apologise; please point me there.

Status:
I am undertaking an intra-company move to Vancouver Island and fly out on the 24th January 2011. I'll be applying for the TWP at Vancouver on arrival. My company mandates that they handle the visa/immigration and are using Fragomen for all the paperwork which I have been told will be sent to me as a bundle to present to immigration.

In parallel, I am also applying for PR (which is also funded by the company and handled by Fragomen) but they have come back with questions on the education section of the points scheme.

Q1) Does the mandatory UK education system cover the 12 years needed? I'm pretty sure I have 12 years but many here know the answer, I'm sure.

Q2) Do O-Levels count as a "secondary school credential"?

I can't find the answers to these anywhere.

rubberduckofdeath

Hello,

If you left at 16, you'll have had 11 years of education. I believe some people have managed to 'swing' 12 years if they did a reception year but I'm not 100% on this and it sounds a bit iffy.

O levels are secondary school credentials, yep.

All the best!

Tripitaka

Cripes! I did leave at 16 but I also started early I think...it was a long time ago and my memory isn't THAT good! ;-) Looks like I might have to count on my apprenticeship and vocational quals to meet that then.

What does everyone else from UK that left at 16 do in this case then?

Just looking ahead, if I decide to do the French language test (which I'd kind-of like to do anyway but lack the time currently), what are the criteria for that? Is there a name for it that I could Google?

rubberduckofdeath

Cool - good luck

It depends if you're needing the points from education to get PR, really!

It's IELTS, you'll need to do it for English also if you didn't put in your initial application before June 26th of this year - sounds like you didn't?

Zoe Bell

google "TEF" for the french test
general opinion seems to be that basic = A level French

rubberduckofdeath

Thanks for the correction

Tripitaka

No, in fact I think Fragomen are still gathering the info. I'll do research on IELTS then; I guess there will be one for English and one for French or is it all the same one?

Another thought struck me too; when I land in January, do I keep quiet about the PR application as I'm coming in on a TWP or does it not matter?

AmyDavid

Fragomen should be aware that you need to do IELTS and they should be on the case of booking you in ASAP - courses are mainly done for this year now and new courses are starting to get booked up for January - once you have taken the exam you have to wait 2 weeks to receive the results - so you need to get on it ASAP.

Tripitaka

Thanks for the heads up - I'll ask them.

AmyDavid

If you have post secondary education then you don't really need to worry about only having 11 years primary & secondary education. How many years did you spend doing post secondary education?

Why are you wanting to do the french TEF test? For more points or because French is your first language?

Tripitaka

I left "school" at 16 then got an apprenticeship which involved a further 4 years of part-time study. I can get the certificate from this but I'm not sure how to prove the length of the study. I'm sure that City & Guilds will be able to do something on that.

I'm currently at 62 points so Fragomen are telling me that I need either 5 from education or French fluency. With a basic UK education (11 years pulled from above) and O-Levels, that leaves me short due to the requirement of 12 years. I quite like French so would be OK with doing the exam but I'd need tuition beforehand and that would take time which I don't really have. Of course, it is all a case or priorities and if I needed to then I'd make the time but if I can get through on education alone, that would save me some time and expense.

AmyDavid

How many years experience do you have in the NOC you are applying under? 1, 2, 3 or 4 or more?

Tripitaka

It was only part time from a "school" point of view; the whole apprenticeship was full time and was a mix of college (academic), training centre (hands-on education) and on-the-job training. College was 1 week in 4, TC also 1 week in 4 and on-the-job was two weeks in 4. I can't prove any of that though.

Tripitaka

I have no idea which NOC Fragomen are applying under. I have 8+ years in my current role and I'll be doing the same job in Canada as I do in the UK with the same manager (who is located in Germany).

AmyDavid

What is your current job title?