[HELP] U.S. Highschool student moving to the U.K. to finish my last year.
 

hey everyone!

I am currently a U.S student (Junior year) and I will be moving to the U.K in June. my goal is to also go to a university over there.

the issue is that I am scared I will have to redo almost everything and won’t be able to finish my last year of school in the U.K that easy.

from what I have read, the U.K.’s education system is really strict and they care a lot about exams.

will I have to go back years in order to do the GSCE exam? or can I finish my last year of HS directly? will this mess up with applying to universities? (as in, they will see I only did one Year of school in the U.K. and that would be a massive drawback).

i’m sorry for the variety of questions, i’m just scared that I won’t be able to fit in properly because I am too late.

any tips and advices are super welcome, thank you!

(also I can’t stay in the U.S. because of immigration issues)

Re: [HELP] U.S. Highschool student moving to the U.K. to finish my last year.
 

Hi!
someone else may well come along with more detailed answers but here is my tuppence worth.
There's no reason for you to do the GCSEs.
Have you already done some AP exams? How many? UK universities will accept these.
What do you want to study at university? Have you already looked to see what subjects they want you to have?
If you find that you do need to do a couple of "A" level classes then I would look at studying these in a sixth form college over 1 year rather than the 2 years which most schools would take.
Even if you end up going to a school - then they can assess what you have already studied to see if you can miss that first year.

Even if you end up doing an extra year to do the "A" level courses over 2 years, it's really not the end of the world. My daughter had to do this when we moved to the USA and she did the 2 year IB diploma.
You'll be fine.

Re: [HELP] U.S. Highschool student moving to the U.K. to finish my last year.
 

hey, thanks so much for your input!

just to make sure I understand: when I get to the U.K. I will be going to the 12th Year with a possibility of going to Year 11th first depending on what I have missed, is that correct?

and, I am sorry for asking too many questions but I really am uneducated on how the education system works there.

what are A level courses? are they advanced courses, basically? how will they determine if I am fit for these courses if I don’t do the GSCE?

unfortunately, since I am an immigrant in the U.S., I couldn’t apply for AP classes at first. i studied hard and finally got into one AP class this year, only to have the news that I will have to leave the country... so no AP exams for me :/. I do have Honors for almost all classes tho

I pretend to study Computer Science. i’ve read that schools in the U.K. gives you less freedom on courses selection and makes you specialize in a subject or two, correct? do you know if they have Comp. Sci courses in Sixth Form? I do have some basic fundamental knowledge of CS since it’s a passion of mine so i guess that would be valuable when applying to a school there

anyways, thanks so much for taking your time to answer these questions

Re: [HELP] U.S. Highschool student moving to the U.K. to finish my last year.
 

UK system High School
2 years of GCSE
2 years of "A" level.

Generally you would have ?8 GCSE classes for which you would take the exams at the end of the 2 years.
Then "A" level is 3-5 subjects depending on what you want to study at university.
Universities in the UK want "A" levels that are directly relevant to the course you will be studying. Unlike the USA, where a "general" level of education is acceptable, the UK university courses are 3 years long and it's straight into it.

I would advise you to work backwards - what do you want to study in the UK at university? Go to the university websites / look online for international student fora and ask what "A" level subjects the universities want for your particular course.

It sounds like you will need to do 2 years of "A' Level classes. Your honors classes will probably be sufficient to do this. They will want to know what you have studied in order to ascertain that you will cope with the "A" level courses.

No school system ever exactly matches one in another country - it's a shame you have to move at this point but not the end of the world.

Re: [HELP] U.S. Highschool student moving to the U.K. to finish my last year.
 

awesome, you’re clearing out most of the questions I had, thank you so much!!!

i will probably redo 11th Year to make sure I have as many A level courses as I can.

just one last question: what is the alternative to A level courses? say they see I am really good at English but average at mathematics. can I have a mixed schedule? (just like regular/honors classes here)

Re: [HELP] U.S. Highschool student moving to the U.K. to finish my last year.
 

This is why you need to decide what to study at university and look at the requirements for that course. Once you start A Levels you start specialising, so doing both Maths and English is very unusual. Most A Level students are either heading for a Science degree - so doing maybe Maths, Physics and Chemistry, or Arts - doing perhaps English, History Geography.

Re: [HELP] U.S. Highschool student moving to the U.K. to finish my last year.
 

For reference, this is the OP's previous thread on the subject. https://britishexpats.com/forum/movi...ng-u-k-931540/

OP, I'm not sure why you've opened another account, but please note we don't allow multiple usernames. I'll ask Site Admin to merge your usernames for you.

Thx and good luck.

Re: [HELP] U.S. Highschool student moving to the U.K. to finish my last year.
 

You might be better off looking at your local Further Education College and seeing what they can offer. If they accept your honors classes you could take your A levels as previously mentioned in one year. If not, you could still take 5 GCSEs in 1 year, plus 2 or 3 (if you're dedicated) A levels the following year. This would only add 1 year onto your education timeline, but it means your education would match your contemporaries. There are also vocational alternatives offered at FE college that can also get you the required qualifications to be accepted into university, if that would be preferable to you. Many even offer foundation degrees, validated by the local University.

Re: [HELP] U.S. Highschool student moving to the U.K. to finish my last year.
 

Note there is no "UK system" Education is devolved to the national units. Scotland, Wales and NI have separate systems from the English.

Do not make the common mistake of thinking UK = England !