Homeiswheretheheartis

Hi Becca

You are so right when saying it comes down to area. There are towns/cities in the UK that people are fighting tooth and nail to get their kids into good schools or like me the town I lived in, we had the hard choice of good school one or good school two

You asked if I would prefer the academy for my son or the grammer. We were in the middle of choosing just before we left so we had done all the research. The grammer obviously showed better exam results percentage wise. But we took into account they started with high achieving children. The grammer itself resembles a 1970's school in need of some repair. The acadamy has excellent sports facilities which would be good for my son, so yes the acadamy was the one we opted for.

The selection process for Acadamy was -

Special Needs (e.g wheel chair access if needed)
Location
Siblings
Other by distance first

They also have a class size max, approx 33 I think, if the school wants more children they have to put forward a request to the local authority. So yes schools can be over subscribed and you will have to go to your second or third choice. This can be a failing school miles away.

But, again back down to location, this has not happened to anyone I know in my town. My advice would be to contact the local authority in the areas you are considering and find out their selection process, class sizes etc.

School buses are not like in the USA. There are normally a couple of different options. Bus pass that uses a bus just for the kids, or a pass where the kids use a normal bus or a taxi in very rare circumstances. But, each local authority rules are different and with the cut backs the distance is quiet far.

Good luck with your research.

Beccarose

Homeiswheretheheartis, can I ask you where you live?

Can someone clarify the ages/classes for me?

I think I understand it pretty well, but just for clarification. If my 11 year old was born Sept 28th 2000, she would be in year 7, correct? Or what is the birthdate cut off there? I see some things say August 31st, but is this correct?

And I know 'high school' isn't the same as US high school, what exactly does that mean? Does it mean college/university?

Also someone told me that as it currently is kids have the choice to end at 16 or can carry on the last two years and then on to university, but that this will be changing next year and it will then be mandatory to continue on through age 18, did I understand that correctly?

rebs

Take a look at this wiki article, which I think should answer most of those questions (apart from where HISWTHI lives )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_England

Yes, 31st Aug is the cut off date for ages in school years. If you scroll down you will see a table which shows how the ages fall into the year groups.

In my experience, state schools are generally very inflexible about placing children in year groups that don't match the norm.

It will also show you the labels that are applied to different stages - primary, middle, high school etc. These labels can vary throughout the country.


Yes, that is true that the statutory school leaving age is increasing to 18 - actually, I think 16 -18 year olds can be on a training programme rather than in school.

I was chatting to a friend about this the other day as we've seen very little publicity about the changes and have no idea how this is going to be implemented in practice. Will the local authority be responsible for providing a place for all the youngsters? what kind of training will count? how will the process for allocating places work? I don't know the answers to any of these questions...

If your child is planning to be in school for A levels, it's not likely to make much difference anyway as they would already be in full time education until 18.

Homeiswheretheheartis

Hi Becca

Rebs is spot on with the correct information.

You are also right regarding your DD, she would be in year 7, this is the first year of High School in the UK. Your DD is the same age as my DS:-)

This is where things are still a little confusing, especially now that there are plans to change the exams in 2015. But I can tell you the little I know at the moment. Please be aware it is all in the process of change.

High School or Grammer or Acadamy will go onto Year 11 where at the moment people take their final exams. They will then continue another two years in further education, some in the same school taking further exams, some repeating failed exams. Some may do this in a separte 6th form. Some will go onto vocational qualifications in other colleges.

Remember its all in the middle of change at the moment.

When are you do to go back, because if its in the next year or so, your DD will be able to settle into the school before exams years begin in 2015. Your DD and my DS will be the first to take the new exams if they go ahead as planned. Can't comment on wether this will be a good or bad thing.

What happens at the moment, is children spend Year 7, 8 and 9, covering a wide range of subjects, in Year 10 and 11 they specialize in chosen subjects and take exams at the end of these two years.

I don't know how things will be with the changes.

I've sent you a private message with my home town:-)

Beccarose

Hi again and thanks for the replies.
I've read the wiki pages about UK education before and it's been helpful, I guess my issue is just remembering the differences- or really understanding them in the first place.... actually.

So I have an older daughter who is 15 (she turns 16 in December), she is in US 10th grade, so I take it that would be UK year 11, correct?
Since she will missing the implementation of the new rules, does this mean she will have the right to end schooling next year is she so decides? Is there nothing parents can do about that?
Thankfully, as it currently stands she does want to go on to college/university, but if something did change between now and when she is due to go on to sixth form (is that the correct way of saying it?) would she be allowed to just end education?
It's so confusing to me, in the US primary education ends at the completion of 12th grade (age 17-18), none of this choice of ending at 16 or going on the extra 2 years and then on to university of they choose...
And just to add more confusion, what are A levels?

mikelincs

In the past, the school exams were 'O (ordinary)' levels and 'A' (advanced) levels. When they changed to comprehensive schools the 'o' levels were abandoned and replaced with GCSE exams, but the 'A' levels remained. It's results at 'A' level that are used for university entrance decisions, when I was at grammar school in the late 60's pupils were only took 3 A levels at the age of 18, nowadays there seem to be a lot more taken.

Homeiswheretheheartis

Hi Becca

Your older DD will go into Year 11, but she will still have to stay on the extra 2 years. She will either continue with A levels or take other exams. Depending on the school it will be at that location or another colleage.

Length of time at school changed this year and the new exams changes are planned for 2015 to 2017.

At present you do GCSE's at the end of Year 11. You can then go on and do further qualifications. A Levels being the most common, you choose specilized subjects, the courses usually last 2 years, then sit the exam. Universtity courses specify which and how many A levels you need to get onto their university.

If A levels are not for your child, their are many other qualifications/courses that children can continue on in local colleages.


Regards
Joanne

mikelincs

Universitys also will specify which grade you need for each exam i.e. if you want to take up medicine, then they would, almost certainly, expect all specified A levels to be grade A. It's essential to have a specific career in mind before going to university, no good getting a good Science degree is you want to do an arts based career.

Beccarose

Ok, thanks. It's still pretty confusing, or maybe I'm just being dumb here. I guess it's one of those things where you jump in and learn as you go?

So another question is my oldest child (19) (I know it seems like I must have 24 children- I have 4 ) never graduated from highschool (US). Instead he got his GED. If he decided to come with us how would his GED transfer over?
Also, if he were to come with us on the EEA family permit would he be able to attend university?

Mummy in the foothills

Did he do it through the school district continuation school type place?
I only ask cause my son (18) just started college in UK based on his high school transcripts and grades.
Also I'm pretty sure he could still go to College the ones they used to call technical colleges are still there, re named, and have all the apprenticeships courses I don't think they need any O or A levels for vocational courses