US Middle School to UK Secondary School

That's exactly my experience of the math(s), Mathanxiety, with the pre-algebra and algebra, and the standards expected by the end of 3rd grade.

True about the AP courses, and even true about honours courses. The HS the oldest DCs went to also sends a fair few every year to Oxbridge, Univ of London, St Andrews, a few RGs, Heidelberg, Sorbonne, Univ of Toronto, McGill, and also the Ivy League, leading midwest and west coast universities, etc. Students were very rigorously streamed through the four years of high school and the number of courses available was staggering (200 plus available so everyone, even the least academically inclined, came out prepared for something by age 18).

They were expected to have the basics of arithmetic down by the end of 3rd grade including long division and multiplication (age 8-9), do fractions, percentages, ratio, etc., in 4th grade, and moved on to pre-algebra concepts in 5th in the parish school they attended. They had the groundwork laid for a serious run at algebra by the end of 6th grade.

The DDs are in an American school. I think the curriculum is pretty rigorous (but they tend to kick out non-achievers before high school to keep their results up), and also like the breadth of it. They do IB or AP at 18 - just the high school diploma is not an option. As well as Ivy League, they also get a significant number into UK universities - last year Oxford, Cambridge and LSE featured in the list as well as other RG universities. So I think it depends on the school, as much as the system.

And joining from a UK primary school, both were behind in maths, and had a significant amount of work to do to catch up - eg they were expected to have known all of their tables up to 12 x, multiplying and dividing, by the first term of year 4 equivalent - DD2 was still fannying about with 3x and 4x in the UK.

*not just have gone for the diploma.

That's a bit unfair. While a high school diploma is closer to GCSEs than it is to A-levels, I would give it the full range that students here do, ie 9 or 10 subjects, not just the five headline subjects.

I would imagine that an internationally mobile student would, had they stayed within the US system, just gone for the high school diploma. They would surely do AP courses, which would bring them into line with A-levels.

Stick witht he British system. A US HS diploma is roughly equivelant to 5 GCSEs, at US universites students with A Levels skip the 101 college courses.

Then you start in university and go through the whole freshman, sophomore, junior and senior thing all over again...

thanks

Freshman = 9th grade, 1st year of high school (same age as Year 10)
Sophomore = 10th grade
Junior = 11th grade
Senior = 12th and final grade.

never understood the names of american grades thing
what grade is freshman , junior and sophmore ?

Hi, I'm only 16 but I really do hope this will help, as I'm still struggling with the problem between American and British secondary education systems. I grew up in a small town in America, and I was a relatively high achiever, receving all As until I had to move to England in the middle of my freshman year. I went into Year 9, and I found it appalling how little British pupils were taught (at a relatively good state school in London). However, I completed my GCSEs and then had to move back to the US. I am now a junior in high school.

Having experienced both education systems, I can say that British education tends to get very rigorous in the last two years of school (A levels), and probably more rigorous than high school. However, aside from the academics, I personally find the British education system values understanding and depth of knowledge. In American high school, it is all about grades and points and extra credit, whereas the essays which take up most exams in the UK test actual understanding and depth of knowledge. Your child, I feel, will have more of an opportunity to be a free thinker in the British education system.

Take a look at private schools in NI too.

MFL = modern foreign language
modules = many GCSEs are taken in chunks - this gives the chance to retake which the Govt does not like so the talk is that it is being phased out.
Agree with the above posters that you need to speak to some of the grammar schools you are interested in about how many places they have out of the standard admission time and their policy for admissions.

my sister and i went from uk to the us for ages 8-11 (me) and 10-14 (her), when we came back the uk I went straight into 1st yr secondary with no problems at all. She however went straight into her first year of O levels and struggled quite a bit with the transition. She did fine though all the same.

I agree with Amerryscot's assessment of the science aspect of US middle school curriculum and with 7to25's take on the NI system, which is a different kettle of fish from the rest of the UK.

Geography isn't taught as a separate subject but instead incorporated into both social studies and biology/earth science, where it is really only briefly treated.

I strangely have knowledge of both the US system and the NI grammar schools. I strongly advise that you stay out of the US system. It lacks the rigour that you will find in the NI system which still has emphasis on discipline and hard work. Look at any University entrance statistics and you will see that even some secondary schools in NI perform favourably.
It will be hard for your child to make the transition for social reasons alone without making it harder for academic ones.

MFL stands for modern foreign language.

There is a good chance your child will do Spanish in the US system, but it is not guaranteed in middle school.

The most common languages in schools here are French, Spanish and German. You will want to make sure your child gets to continue with whatever they have been doing, or pick up a language that is new to everyone in Y10 (some schools add in a third language in Y10).

Modular GCSEs means that they take exams up to three times a year over the two year course. Right now, Y11s can take fully modular courses with lots of resits should they not do well.

Y10s can do modular courses but they are limited with resits and have to take 40% of their qualification in June of Y11.

Courses starting next year are linear, which means the only exams are taken at the end of Y11 for 2 year courses.

This is the situation in England and Wales. I don't know if it affects Northern Ireland as I think their Education policy is devolved.

I don't think you really need to be on top of the exam system for your return. There are a few things that you need to be aware of - how specific course differ from the US.

Most subjects will start their GCSE work afresh and not really require too much prior knowledge that he won't already have. For example, he should be fine in English and Maths. To be sure in Maths, make sure he does accelerated or advanced Math in the US system rather than 'college prep'. He should be fine in Biology and Physics, but may not have had any Chemistry. History would probably cover different topics (this is the same for a move within the UK, as it is often up to the interests of the teacher), but he'd be behind in Geography (which is a small subset of 'social studies'). I think he would probably be fine in Expressive and Performing Arts, and be an asset to the school in terms of extracurricular music and drama.

Kids are resilient and can cope with most things, but it is a big ask to transfer at the start of GCSE courses, unless in a small school where he can seriously get individual attention. I just don't think his results will be representative of his potential. An option is to go into Y9 instead of 10 to acclimatise.

Most state grammar school have a limited number of students per year. The only time new students are admitted is when another student leaves.

At our grammar school if a place becomes available then an all round exam is held for students who want a place. There might be 20 students applying for one place. The student with highest mark gets the place.

It would be good idea to contact the school you intend him to study at on his return so you can understand the admission policy.

It might have the state grammars but can they offer palces to late entrants? As a rule schools that are popular simple would not be able no and you would have to accept what you were offered.

It affects all schools doing standard GCSEs. Independent schools are not immune unless they are doing iGCSEs (which have been traditionally linear anyway).

Your DD may be doing her GCSEs a year early (so completing them before the switch to linear), but it is not possible for current Year 9s to do their GCSEs over three years.

By the time the OP returns to the UK, everything will be linear and there will be no modules to juggle/gamble/experiment with.

amerryscot - not in my DS's school (independent). He will be doing French and Maths a year early, in yr 10.

Very common from what I know of independent schools, and I have heard of some state schools doing similar. I don't know if the OP is looking at state or private schools when they return to the UK but it is something to be aware of.

This is only another case study, but I know of another student who came from the US to study in the UK for A levels and he really struggled because in America he was considered to be high achieving / g&t type student, but over here he was really behind and really struggled to keep up. This echoes what other posters have said, so I probably would try to stick to the one educational system if at all possible.

Exexpat,

Modules are disappearing and the current Y9s and below will do all their exams at the end of Y11.