My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Join the discussion on our Education forum.

Education

moving from englan to scotland

22 replies

Weedeb · 06/06/2014 14:04

Hi, looking for some advice please, myself, husband and children (boys 9,10, 15 and girls 13 and 16) are wanting to move from england to scotland but we are not sure how the education system works, we have read that the exams/school years are different, scotland do not sit gcse exams in year 11? they split it into 2 years? and they consentrate more onn the individual child?. Does scotland have an "options" year? in year 9? We are thinking we may have to wait 3 years untill 13 year old daughter sits her exams and just before 10 year old son chooses options to re-locate, oh yes and husband will have to finish his job here and find new one in scotland, we don't know where to start!! any information would be greatly apprieciated.
Thank you.

OP posts:
Report
Weedeb · 06/06/2014 14:07

Oh yes and finding somewhere to live

OP posts:
Report
redastra · 06/06/2014 14:18

Hi Weedeeb!

Welcome to Scotland! Where are you thinking about moving to? There are some differences between the 2 education systems, but they are not insurmountable. The ages of your children are probably about to transfer now. I am on my phone and cant access some links etc that might be useful, but if you want to pm me your email address I can send them to you!

Report
yellowsnownoteatwillyou · 06/06/2014 14:19

School age year runs from 1st of march to feb 28th not the same as England.
Primary starts p1 age 4/5 up to primary 7 age 11/12
High school is age 11/12 and goes 1st year to 6th year
Standard grades are selected at the end of 2nd year and studied over 3rd and 4th year. With standard grade exams at the end of 4th year gcse equivalent.
5th year is highers
6th year is 6th studies or extra highers

Does this help?

Report
Weedeb · 06/06/2014 17:50

Hi redastra, what a lovely welcome! thank you for the info, it was very helpful, we are looking to move to Ayr, i dont actually know how to pm you!

OP posts:
Report
Weedeb · 06/06/2014 17:53

Hi yellowsnownoteatwillyou, thank you for the info, very helpful! x

OP posts:
Report
PurpleFrog · 06/06/2014 19:18

Yellow - you are out of date! Standard grades have gone. They have been repleaced by National 5 exams that are supposed to be 1 year courses!

Report
PurpleFrog · 06/06/2014 19:19

...and 6th Year Studies were replaced by Advanced Highers years ago!

Report
Lesleythegiraffe · 06/06/2014 19:34

Hi Weedeb

Welcome to you and your family. I've taught in both English and Scottish systems and found that the Scottish one is much better organised and straighforward.

No SATs or phonics tests!

Report
redastra · 06/06/2014 19:49

Hi weedeb!

I have sent you a pm with my email address. it should be in your inbox

Report
yellowsnownoteatwillyou · 06/06/2014 20:03

Well its been a while, thought they were still the same. Excuse the incorrect info.Shock

Report
Weedeb · 06/06/2014 21:46

Hi Lesley, thank you for the info, i don't suppose you could pm me some info on how it works?? Im liking the sound of that, we'r just not sure when to make the move - when our 13 yr old leaves school and when our 9 yr old takes his options or before!!

OP posts:
Report
Weedeb · 07/06/2014 17:34

Can anyone tell me if ayshire (ayr) year 9s (3s) take options? Cant find it on sqa website.
Thank you.

OP posts:
Report
PurpleFrog · 07/06/2014 17:49

You will have to look at the website for the individual schools themselves. This past year, some schools are asking pupils to choose options at the end of S2, others S3, and the number of Nat5s that can be studied also varies from school to school. I don't know if any Local Authorities are making decisions like this for all schools in the area. The SQA is only concerned with laying down the syllabus and examining the courses.

Report
Weedeb · 07/06/2014 21:48

Thank you purplefrog

OP posts:
Report
earlyriser · 07/06/2014 22:03

They are all meant to have a Broad General Education up til the end of S3. They then choose 6 (or 8 in some schools) Nationals to study for 1 year. National 5s (old credit level) has an exam at the end of the course. National 4 pupils have no formal assessment.
reality is that all schools are different and some will effectively start the national courses in S3 (although they should still be following a broad general education ).
Hope this helps a bit, truth be told, schools are in a process of readjustment just now.

Report
earlyriser · 07/06/2014 22:05

In some schools they choose 11 subjects in third year, which is then narrowed down to 6 in S4.

Report
Igggi · 09/06/2014 23:23

As you are looking at one year courses rather than two, probably actually easier to come up at any time and still get into the system. If you phoned the education department at the local council they could probably give you more info.
Nice bit around Ayr, I'm intrigued though about why you've picked it (as not for job, unless I've missed something in your OP!)

Report
OorWullie · 09/06/2014 23:40

Hi Weedeb, don't have a huge amount of advice, just wanted to say hello! I live near-ish to ayr, DS is only 4 so a long way from the stage your children are at just now.

Ayr has some great schools and also a fantastic college which sometimes allows children to attend alongside what they are studying at school, depending on their interest.

I didn't go to school in Ayr but i went to a school not far away and used to attend the college on Tuesday afternoons for art classes, they also offered travel and tourism, hospitality and childcare, music and other things we wouldn't have had in school. Just something else to think about when considering education options for your older children.

As other posters have said Standard Grades begin in 3rd year (14/15) with exams held at the end of 4th year (15/16) up until then it's general education covering all subjects, then Children will pick what to study for Standard Grades. Intermediate 1, Intermediate 2 and Highers are offered for 5th and 6th year, depending on how well Standard Grades went, Children may spend 5th year at Intermediate 1 or 2 then progress to Highers in 6th year or may go straight into Highers in 5th year. Highers are also offered at college.

Hope this helped a little, as i said my son has a long way to go before he is at the stage your children are, and i left school in the area 8 years ago butbhopefully my knowledge is still relevant.

Good luck, i'll come back to your thread to see if there is
anything in particular you want to ask, i know the area well.

Report
OorWullie · 09/06/2014 23:43

apologies, have just realised that alot of my info is in fact out of date, sorry! still happy to help if i can though!

Report
DrewsWife · 10/06/2014 01:01

I live in Ayrshire. hubby.moved from London nearly 3 years ago. loves how it is up here. much more relaxed way of life he reckons.

Ayr is a good town. big but not too big. college is fab. lots of great schools and nurseries and a gorgeous beach. plenty of learning for the kids in local castles and places of interest.

Report
Weedeb · 10/06/2014 18:13

Hi Igggi, not sure if your reply was to mine or somebody elses, not looking for a course just wanting to know about the education system, i'v had lots of positive feedback! To be honest we visited Ayr on holiday last year and fell in love with the place, that's it i'm afraid haha.

OP posts:
Report
weebarra · 10/06/2014 18:31

I think Igggi meant a course of study , eg Nationals, rather than a particular vocational course.

Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.