Angel12

Hi ,

Currently in the process of relocating to Georgia, USA . We have green card and Currently my Son is doing A level (17 years) - year 12 . So I would like to find out which grade he will be placed and practical difficulties to complete high school diploma and to enrol for further education in University. He would like to do university in US

Has anyone had experience of changing from U.K. system to USA at this stage of education.

Thank you

Pulaski

At his age, by far the preferred plan would be to find a way for him to stay in the UK to complete his A levels. Either you stay with him, or he stays with a relative or friend, as dropping him into the US system three-quarters of the way through a US/ Georgia high school program would be as traumatic as bringing someone to the UK without having done anything that resembles a GCSE and parachuting them into the middle of an A level program. In short, it won't work, and the result is going to be even more stressful than doing A levels.

What would happen if you bring your son to the US? I don't have any personal experience, but I think he would have to drop back at least a year. Meanwhile you may have to fight the school/ school district, with no certainty of success, to get course credit for his studies in the UK.

* Note, there are established rules for spending extended time outside the US for educational purposes without jeopardising your green card status.

tht

Staying behind sounds like the best solution, I had a friend who’s parents moved to NZ and he stayed to finish A levels and then went to University in NZ. If you can’t do that, maybe look for an international School that does A levels?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brit...ols_of_America

PetrifiedExPat

Would be a terrible, terrible, mistake

kimilseung

A straight year for year would have Year 12 (UK) equate with Grade 12 in the USA, which is the final year of schooling.
However a look at transcripts might make it very difficult to justify grade 12 or even grade 11. A lot depends on graduation requirements of the State. The US has a more broad curriculum at these ages than does the more limited A level courses. There will be oddities like US history requirements or State history requirements, that can mess things up and put graduation way back for a student moving to the US from the UK.

christmasoompa

I agree with the others, moving a child that age isn't a great idea. We're also moving to the US (was supposed to be last summer but delayed due to Covid & the visa ban) and our daughter is 17/Yr 12 too. We've decided to wait until she's finished her A Levels, and will be moving in 2023. She's applying for uni's in both the UK and USA and can decide nearer the time where she wants to go. Obviously every family and child is different, but that was our decision anyway.

Could he stay with friends/family maybe, or could you delay things a year or so? If not, then maybe look at the IB Diploma instead (although would mean him moving back a year), as it's a standalone program for 2 years so he wouldn't have to catch up with anything. That's what our daughter would have done if we had moved last summer after her GCSE's, she'd have done it at a British school.

petitefrancaise

Yep done it.
Daughter went back a year and did the IB diploma.
She got almost no credits for her school work in France beforehand and so her GPA was a lot lower than it would have been had she been in high school here from Grade 9. That made university applications tricky. Luckily she is actually very academic and the university that accepted her realised that her french school work/grades were exceptional.
It was a very hard couple of years in high school for her and it did all work out. She says we made the right decision.
I think if it had been my son, it would have ended in tears.

civilservant

Depending on the area, GA schools are somewhat lacking due an often lower property tax then many other states (School systems are funded from property tax). I endorse the prevailing viewpoint that, if possible, they should remain in the UK until their schooling is completed.

Pulaski

Same in NC - the "desirable" school, the one that "everyone" wants to get their kids into, in the county where I live, was rated a 4 on a 10 scale (10 being the best) the last time I checked.

excpomea

We did a similar move with our 17 year old son.

He moved to the US when his mother was incarcerated.

High school was a total non starter, would not deal with any UK class work, he would have to drop back a year and basically try to catch up.
We opted to take him out of school and enroll him in an adult GED (General educational diploma) program to make up for the lack of High School diploma.
He obtained his GED in 6 months or so.
With that he could have gone onto a community college for a couple of years then to a full University to complete a degree.

Unfortunately he chose to return to his mother once she was released.

morpeth

We have one child who was in a similar situation. Our general experience was the education in UK was of a higher level, and any US high school credits that were missing we just had our child do online in the summer period. A lot depends on the school counsellor, we had the bizarre situation where the school would give credit for an online course if the student was moving to the school, but not after having entered the school. The 'fun time' environment of an American school was enjoyable for our child so no 'trauma' to worry about, just some extra study in summer. A school with an IB program I think would be more flexible, and the best bet.

PetrifiedExPat

Of this there is no doubt. With a minority of colleges excepted, this applies all the way through academia. Bringing US personnel up to scratch is 90% of my job and it sucks.

petitefrancaise

I really dislike the hubris of Brits thinking they have world class education. Both countries rely on being in good school areas.
My kids' high school here in Austin does a feature on the top 10 kids each year graduating and where they are going to college. Every year, it features Ivy league schools. I know that my kids had great educations there especially in the IB diploma program where they learned critical thinking and analysis that helped right through their college degrees.
Last summer's graduates : 2 x Harvard; UT Austin CS turing scholars program; Cornell CS; 2 going to MIT computer engineering; Yale economics/maths; Georgia Inst Tech CS; Emory neuroscience; U Chicago economics; Hardly places where education is poor and low standards are accepted.

PetrifiedExPat

We have spoken about this before. You project your own anxiety about your decisions on here when this topic comes up. Absolute nonsense as usual, standards here are woefully low, of course the occasional student falls on the edge of the bell shaped curve, but, your stance is almost laughable.

civilservant

Some students will invariably surpass their peers and go on to excel, that's just the nature of schooling and the difference between human beings.

Oh the whole though, I have to agree that the general level of education is pretty pitiful.I would also accept that there are places in the UK where that is also the case, though.