rebs

I think there is some validity to the point about questioning the advice that schools may give. I know that is something that I have heard before from a friend of mine who is a lecturer at a university.

One of the examples of that is that schools may advise/guide students towards certain A level subjects that maybe are a bit easier, therefore have more chance that the student will pass, thus helping the school's results. However, some of these subjects are not counted by the universities towards entrance criteria.

In some instances, schools do not make students aware of this.

CEM

"I do take exception to " Schools advising them whatever best suits them" you must of been very unfortunate if thats been your experience"


That's what I thought too. Our experience has been wholly positive too.

We moved last September and our eldest couldn't take one of her original A level choices as the 'blocks' were already set. The head of academics spent ages with us, consulting colleagues and exam boards trying to find the best option for our daughter.
Out of all the options she really wanted to take Spanish as she loves languages. She'd never spoken it before (except for ordering ice cream on holiday!), but, after consulting the teachers at the old school and the head of languages, they decided to let her have a go. They sent text books and worksheets and registered her for all the online resources and let her get on with it over the summer. In September she started her A level course.
It was a risk for the school and, if they were more worried about their standing in the league tables, rather than our daughter's wishes I doubt they'd have let her take it.
Our school rarely has girls taking only three AS levels and dropping one (more often there are girls taking four through to A2), but if they feel it's in the girl's best interest, and after careful consultation with the girl and her parents, they can allow it. They say that sometimes two good grades are better than three mediocre ones. There is always the option of taking one the following year, or taking an access course, if university is the way the student wants to go.

As part of his job my oh teaches medical students and says there are plenty who haven't come down the traditional route.
My point mainly is that there is always a way forward, whatever the educational background of the student.

Lizandphil

somewhere in this thread someone mentioned that completing yr 11 in Aus is the equivalent to completing the GCSE years in the uk (i think). I have been working on the assumption that completing year 10 here in the ACT (and getting the year 10 certificate) is the equivalent of GCSEs - is this not the case? I'm not sure if year 11 in WA, which I think is the state the person who mentioned it was from, is the same as year 11 here in the ACT. Does anyone know?

petrichor

Brits1, I think you missed it but I asked you if you knew why your eldest son was classed as a home student despite the fact that he had only just returned to the UK. I think if you know this information would be useful to others who plan to return. I think it may be something to do with how long you lived in the UK before emigrating, so it might be useful to know if there's a cutoff length of time.

Can I ask how long you were away for? I've got a personal interest in this as we plan to return to the UK for my son's education, and if he will be classed as a home student no matter when we return that might affect our plans.

That's good that your sons were offered places at top universities but not unexpected as these universities do accept BTecs and sometimes Access courses too. There are several routes to gaining a place at a university.

I'm glad too that your experience with schools has been positive. Many sixth forms these days won't admit students to A' Level courses without a good grade at GCSE. Many also strongly 'advise' students to after the first year if they fail their AS Levels. Their attitude to students returning from overseas will of course depend on lots of things.

Pollyana

Its an interesting point about the residency period to entitle one to being a Home Student. There have been several threads on it in the past and its always mentioned that regardless of how long the family was resident in the UK in the past its the time immediately before applying which matters. I guess its possible that someone in the processing system somewhere just made an error?

petrichor

Who knows? Perhaps it's at the discretion of universities who vet the applicants? It would be nice to know. I think I may try emailing someone and if I get a reply I'll post it here.

Pollyana

Have you read the previous threads on the subject? Its been discussed in detail many times

Try here for starters - http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=690093

petrichor

Many thanks Pollyana. It reads like an absolute minefield. It sounds as though if you have a choice about it, it isn't worth taking the risk that a university will deem an applicant a home student, unless you have £45,000 to spare! The rules aren't at all straightforward and sound as though they're very much at the individual institution's discretion.

brits1

We were away for 12 years, my son visited the U.K 3 times after our first 7 years away and the rest of us visited twice. As I have said we gave detailed information to all 3 of the Uni's our son applied for (we did this while overseas in Australia...a fact also the Uni's knew of especially as I also telephoned each Uni on a few occasions as well. Also our youngest had 3 interviews at
6th form colleges of his choice and all 3 said they would except him for A levels etc even without GCSE's. As I have mentioned we found fantastic help for both our sons even more so I think as they were students from overseas.