BlubellsInTheForest

Hello,

I may be moving back to the UK from the USA after 12 years here. I have a 15 yr old (16 in July) and an American born 9 yr old (10 in August).

My 15 yr old is in 10th Grade here.
I need some advice about what grade she would enter in Sept 2014 in the UK. How long before she would get Uni fees as a resident (is it 3yrs).

It does seem like a good time to return home as she could do her A'Level course for 2 years and then a gap year before going to a British Uni.

Have I understood the rules correct?

Also, what grade would my son be in?

Their schooling is one thing that has kept me persevering here for so long. My son is in a Waldorf charter school and my daughter is in a small 1 high school district. Despite her doing honors classes here, I think A'Levels will be a big shock to her. I have been looking into International Baacalaureate schools in the UK.

They live quite a sheltered life here in a small mountain town in Colorado. Daughter is a nerdy type with no interest in fashion or make up. She is passionate about math and programming, Dr.Who, Magic and D&D. I really worry that she will have a hard time in a school amongst more fashion conscious girly girls.

She also has her first boyfriend and they have been friends for a couple of years and now a couple for about 8mths. They are two peas in a pod, in looks, interests, talents....everything. They have planned which college they are going to, when they are going to get married, countries they are going to travel to. I wish they had met when they were both in their mid-20s because they are soul mates. I do think that if we do get sent home then there will be no greater test of their friendship than the Atlantic Ocean.

Anyone have a similar experience? Thank you!

Mummy in the foothills

I can only give my experience of the younger one.
We moved last summer with our nearly 9 year old she is in year 4 here and was in 3rd grade in a very rural community in CA mostly cowboys, and cattle where we lived. She has taken to village life and school without problem of course her UK school happens to be even smaller but the children more worldly. In CA her school covered a huge area bringing children from a long way and had over 600 pupils from preschool to age 11.

dunroving

Yes, the part in bold is correct - after living in the country for 3 years, she would be eligible for resident status (cheaper fees and access to government loans). If you moved to Scotland, it would be free!

The only exception to the above rule, that people sometimes get mixed up about, is if the person returned to the UK to live primarily for the purpose of obtaining an education, that time would not count towards the 3-year residency rule. As you will be moving home with her, that doesn't apply in this case.

HartleyHare

Hi,

Your daughter would be due to go into Year 11 in the UK. This is a tricky year as it is the year that the GCSE exams are taken and I don't believe that they can be completed with only a few months of study.

It may be possible that the school drops her back a year so that she can complete her GCSE's. I would suggest that you contact schools in the UK in the area you are interested in to see they would accommodate your daughter.

I will be in a similar situation to you if we decide to stay another year in the US and our decision will be based on how it will effect our daughter's education if we do stay. We rent out our UK home, so would be returning there and hopefully our daughter could return to the same school she left (we moved last year on a 2 year contract).

old.sparkles

If the oldest is 16 in July they would be year 12 in September, not year 11, and will have missed GCSE's completely.

HartleyHare

DOH - my bad So I guess the choice would be between either 6th form or local college then?

old.sparkles

t is possible to do GCSE's in 1 year at a local college. I'm not sure if someone returning from another country can jump straight into A levels, but if they need to wait 3 years for help with uni fees then perhaps the way to go would be 1 year on the GCSE's and then 2 years on A levels. Or maybe taking some BTec courses

BlubellsInTheForest

Thanks for the help.
Yes, she will be 16 in the Summer.
I am hoping she can jump straight into A'Levels if her GPA is good at the end of this year.
Does anyone have experience with the transfer to the UK into 12th grade?
Would she be considered qualified to enter into an A'Level course?
Still haven't heard back from USCIS whether our extension of stay request has been approved. We are in week three of the 60days they have to answer our request.

penguinsix

There is a sister to this site for Americans living in the UK. They have a special section on Parents and Schools if you want some 'been there done that' voices on the move between educations systems. Also can help you find decent Mexican food in the UK, should you have acquired a taste for that during your stay in the states.

http://talk.uk-yankee.com

kodokan

It's not just an issue of whether she'll be accepted on A level courses by your local college. Some, if not all, UK universities will require GCSEs as part of the application, at least in the basics of maths, English, science, etc. They have enough trouble with an actual US high school diploma, let alone a GPA that essentially means nothing to them. I'd work onto the assumption that she'll be doing a year of GCSEs at a 6th form college, to get the 5 or so core ones she'll need, and then A levels after that.

BlubellsInTheForest

Thanks for all the information. Maybe I will have to get her work so far evaluated by one of those education evaluation agencies. I had to pay to get my qualifications evaluated and then I was given an official letter stating the US equivalents. I am hoping that she won't have to do GCSE Math, Science and English as she is in honors classes with Seniors for those subjects.

Still no word from USCIS about our renewal. We are into day 20 of the 60 days they have said it could take.

old.sparkles

You may have more success getting onto an A level course with a local college rather than 6th form as I think they can be a nit more flexible. If you could get an evaluation to give an equivalency of the GPA that would obviously help, although as said, you can do GCSE's in one year at college, and then go on to do A levels from there and still be ready to start Uni in 3 years

kodokan

I'm basing this on my UK school experience, but a teen who's been in high school here would probably feel a lot more comfortable in a FE college than a school 6th form anyway. I went to an FE college and it was night and day compared to being at school - no uniform, teachers who invited us to call them by their first names, and a much more 'adult' feel to the whole thing. Schools, however hard they try, do tend to view all the students as eleven-and-a-bit years old.

BlubellsInTheForest

I have been googling the issue and it seems like a high school diploma is the equivalent of 5 GCSEs regardless of whether they were honors classes (eg, college level math).
Bearing in mind that if we leave this Summer she will not even have her diploma, it looks like she will have to do a year of the core GCSEs and then A'Levels and then 3yr college. Altogether that is 6 years, so she will graduate in 2020 whether she is in the US or UK.

Thank you for the advice about FE college rather than a 6th form attached to a school.