UK students going to a US school- transcripts or records?
 

My 2 stepsons who are UKC will be moving to the US in a few months. The US school had asked me (since they have never had a student from the UK transfer to the school) if I could email the school in England for some information.

This is what the US school needs:
"A list of the boys classes previously taken (in year 9 and 10) with their grades, and a course description of each class, so they might be able to get some credit for their classes that they have completed in England."

I also said in my email to the UK school "I look forward to hearing from you regarding the sharing of their transcripts/school records to expedite the scheduling of their 2013-2014 school year class schedules. "

The head person of the boys in year 10 told my husband the other day that "there is nothing we have that is like what she asked for. We can hand write what classes they took but we don't do transcripts"

Now-I had figured from reading some threads on here a while ago- that "transcript" wasn't a work they use in the UK- that is why I said
"sharing of their transcripts/school records"

Do schools in England keep track of things on a computer system? I can't imagine they didn't understand what I wanted from them. If a student in England moved to another school in England- wouldn't there be the sharing of some record/grade etc of what the child had taken? Would they have to hand write that too?

Couldn't the school understand what I wanted even though my wording was not right?

Could someone help me to explain clearly what I mean- and is my asking for those previous classes, a description and their grades too much?

Thank you!

Re: UK students going to a US school- transcripts or records?
 

Yes, there should be a record. Try asking for the syllabus they're following, with an indication of the sections already studied.

I think that the boy who has completed year 10 will be about to sit his GCSE exams (June this year), so for him you'll just need copies of the syllabuses for the subjects he studied. Unless there are any optional modules, he will have completed the whole syllabus. The grades for his exams will be available in mid August.

The boy a year younger will have done somewhere around 60% of the GCSE syllabuses, but the teachers will have to indicate which areas they have covered. I would expect there to be end of year internal exams set and marked by the school, which he will take in early July and marks for those will be available about 2 weeks later, before the summer vacation starts. Those marks will probably be percentages, not grades, where percentages above 80% are exceptional performance (very few achieve that level).

Re: UK students going to a US school- transcripts or records?
 

Ahhhhh the key words are "syllabus and records". If I described what I had needed- but used the wrong terminology why would he even offer to "hand write it" is beyond me.

The boys are twins (year 10) so I would need all of their records from 9th year as well- you never know what will count towards New York state high school credit. I wonder if anyone else whose kids transferred to the US had credit given for their classes in the UK? Its so hard not to use the word freshman and sophomore instead of year 9 and year 10 for me lol

Re: UK students going to a US school- transcripts or records?
 

Yes, my daughter was a Freshman (just) when we move over and due to be a sophomore when she returned in August. At first they weren't going to give her any credits but on seeing her syllabus from her school in Scotland she was given credit for enough subjects to go forward. She ended up graduating early and getting dual credits from community college so by the time she started university she was actually only a couple of credits away from being a sophomore there. The only blight was that they didn't give her any grade averages for the credits they accepted so she didn't quite make the 10% of the graduating class which meant she couldn't applied to the University of Texas. So try to get them to give them a grade average for any subjects they are credited for as they will be Juniors where grade averages are even more important to the university (school) they apply to for degrees.

Re: UK students going to a US school- transcripts or records?
 

Sorry for not being clearer, the GCSE program is a two year program, with a two year syllabus, so it is convenient that they are transferring after GCSEs, because that is a "clean break". They will have covered the whole syllabus.

Re: UK students going to a US school- transcripts or records?
 

GCSE syllabus is years 10 and 11 so they will be half way through. Most are modular based and so the school should be able to give a grade average for where they are at the moment. The syllabus will depend on the chosen exam board for the subject by the school but they should have that information available.

Re: UK students going to a US school- transcripts or records?
 

I moved to the US at around the same age, and just had to provide my GCSE results and give a brief verbal description about those classes.

Also, I would try to stress that critical thought and subsequently analytical writing are pushed in the English curriculum, especially if either or both of the boys are A*-B range of the grading system, and that the grades follow a national standard, such that it is impossible for kids in higher classes to get anything below a C, and subsequently that those taking higher level classes can't get anything below a C, or whatever.

I didn't stress either of those enough, and ended up being placed in what are called College Preperatory classes which focused on fact regurgitation, and only served to waste 2 years of my time. Placement into what are called Advanced Placement classes do actually have positive ramifications should you push them to go on to University in that if they place high enough, they get to waive some first year college classes.

Re: UK students going to a US school- transcripts or records?
 

What state did you move to- California? They will be moving to NY state where they need to take regents exams.
The boys can't really give a brief verbal description of their classes unfortunately so hopefully I get the syllabuses (syllabi?)soon. I have gotten a basic understanding of the GCSE classes- but the grading- especially the A* what does that mean? I understand in the US- A,B,C grades - but they aren't the same as the UK grading are they?
When you say that
"such that it is impossible for kids in higher classes to get anything below a C, and subsequently that those taking higher level classes can't get anything below a C, or whatever."
What do you mean? They can't fail in those classes (or get lower than a C)? what if they do fail? (Sorry- I don't get this part)

Re: UK students going to a US school- transcripts or records?
 

I don't know if this will help or not but below is a web site sent to me by my sons school. He is currently in year 10 in the UK and we will be (hopefully) moving to Kansas later this year. As we intend to return when he finished high school in the USA and attend University in the UK, we felt it was better for him to attend an International Baccalaureate school so that his final grades/score will be accepted by a UK Uni. I asked his school for the syllabus and they pointed me to this web site,

http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/...ulum/secondary

It shows everything that is covered for each subject that is studied in the current curriculum. There is a lot of info that would need to be sorted but everything should be there.

Hope it helps.

Regards

Tony

Re: UK students going to a US school- transcripts or records?
 

Thank goodness for placement testing. I wish we had that in the crappy California publlc school system.

A* is the equivalent of an A+ and is a mark of distinction
As for the latter part of that post, a C would be the lowest passing grade on a grading scale that goes all the way from A to G. Therefore, a person taking that test and not making the bare minimum would fail outright.

To add on to that, if such a system was implemented in the US, only students in AP or IB programs would be able to get A's, intermediate level classes could only score as high as a B, and everything else would only offer C as the highest.