cazzababes

I'm sorry if this has been covered but just wondered...
We are looking to relocate to Austin for at least 2 years in July 2019.
I have a 15 year old completing his GCSE's this year (year 11). I have done research that him doing AP's (3rd year of HighSch starting in August 2019) as well as his high school diploma will allow him to apply to UK and US universities eventually.
However, I am a little worried about my second son who is 14, he would have been starting his GCSEs Sept this year (next academic year 2019-20). When in US he will be starting High Sch in August 2019 but I am anxious that if we come back after 2 years he will not have 'GCSEs' or even equivalent but obviously credits towards a High Sch Diploma. Are there any pre-Ap's or something that sixth form collages in UK would accept to be able to do 'A' levels coming from America? I hope i am clear!

Thank you in advance
Caroline

steveq

The APs will get your eldest into a UK or US school, but you should maybe look for a school offering the International Baccalaureate, which is pretty portable, and would probably allow your youngest to begin IB work which would readily transfer

petitefrancaise

hello from Austin!
You should be looking at an IB Diploma. This is acceptable to both US and UK universities.
Pre-IB is 9th and 10th Grades
IB is 11th and 12th. Your elder son would be able to join in for 11th grade ( my daughter did).
Best schools for this are in NW Austin
Westwood( my kids go there)
VanderGrift
Anderson
Whereabouts are you moving to in Austin? There are a couple of us from BE there.

civilservant

Be aware that spending several years in the US close to him starting Uni will likely render him not a UK based student for the purposes of tuition fees. I believe (and I can be corrected) that there is a 3 year look back period. If he has been living in the US that time, he will not qualify and will pay a lot more potentially.

petitefrancaise

L1/L2 is a temporary non immigrant visa so they should be fine. They remain ordinarily resident in the UK if on temp visas elsewhere. However, if they get green cards that is when the situation becomes tricky for the UK.
I'll try and get one of the other local BE mums to comment on L2 applying to USA university since I know she is handling that at the moment.

steveq

Exactly. #1 son is at Swansea, because he was on a temp visa, but by the time #2 son was looking, he was a foreign student, because of the green card. So he's at New Mexico Tech on a free ride, and paying less than his brother on UK rates....

Go figure

civilservant

cazzababes

We are looking at Lakeway...Lake Travis ISD. So IB diploma instead of AP's do you think? Can these be taken alongside the US graduation merits diploma (if you know what I mean!). Thank you x

cazzababes

Thank you for that tip...I didnt realise that. x

cazzababes

Thank you so much x

steveq

Do you mean "graduating high school" ?

Yes.

petitefrancaise

I don't think Lake Travis ISD does IB.
The nearest would be Vandergrift High School, down FM620 in Leander ISD.
That's a shame because IB is based on the British curriculum and would be a much easier transition to and from the USA for your boys. I would urge you to reconsider your area and move a few miles down the road.
Your sons' current school records would determine the credits they would be given. Sometimes the school figures out where they are and sometimes you have to pay to get their UK school reports evaluated.
The counselor at the new school will advise you what they need to get in order to graduate from Texas High school. That's their job. In terms of returning to the UK for University, the AP classes they take will be sufficient for admission.
If you're not planning on staying more than a couple of years, I wouldn't stress too much about gaining credits for their UK studies - just make sure they are placed in the right class level (pre-AP and AP, rather than "on-level" if they are bright).
Lake Travis is a lovely area but the public schools are not the best around. VanderGrift is really good OTOH. If it were me and OH was working in Lake Travis, I'd live in Steiner Ranch and send the kids to Vandergrift.

Aimeewhite

tom169

If you could swing working in Houston instead then looks like there is a British school.

steveq

Find a school that teaches IB, that's very transferable.