Moving from the US to the UK

Getting into sixth form shouldn't be too difficult, if she's doing a 1-year condensed GCSE course. As long as she gets stuck in immediately, so that by the time 6FC applications come round (as soon as early December in some areas), she has high predicted grades and glowing references. It will also help, I think, if you are living close to the school or 6FC where you want her to go. So choose wisely where you are going to live.

Cambridge has loads of high quality 6th form provision, and to make things easier the applications are actually handled centrally. (This is not normally the case for 6th form). So you apply on one form, list several preferences, and it's all worked out. You don't have to apply individually to lots of different schools.

Obviously the International kids are competing for boarding, whilst DDs' peers would be going for day places.

Needmoresleep Entry to Westminster for the bright DD isn't necessarily that difficult. A number apply from DDs (girls') school each year and a few get in. There never seems to be any rhyme or reason to who is successful, with some of the brightest not being successful and some not so bright succeeding. It doesn't seem to correlate with extra curricular, spark, geekiness or whatever either, so the girls assume it depends on demand for particular A levels. Though no easy pattern to spot there either. However definitely worth a try. In DD2s year girls got into Westminster who didn't get into Latymer!

The thread that is 166 pages long with lots of really intelligent and motivated kids from all over the world agonising over the detail of personal statements, interview etc......

My bright but not super bright DD would love to apply, but the strength of the competition is off-putting. It is not just London wide or from the UK but from across the world.

If you are an international student wanting to do A levels in London before applying to UK Universities I guess Westminster, with its strong Oxbridge (and Ivy League) track record would be the perfect place to go. OP asked about competition for sixth form places. Sixth form entry to good private schools appears to be getting more competitive by the year.

"Look at the Student Room website thread on getting into Westminster School for sixth form. (Be scared, be very scared.)"

This made me curious, so I took a look. What is there to be scared about?

There is also Cranbrook School (state day and boarding) which definitely takes boarders from overseas. Not IB though, but worth talking to as they surely have experience of other similar cases.

I dont know but assume international students are not eligible for British state schools.

There is a noticeable contingent from overseas looking for private boarding school places at 16. Look at the Student Room website thread on getting into Westminster School for sixth form. (Be scared, be very scared.) The same students will be trying Dulwich, SPS, Sevenoaks, Harrow and others. Lesser known boarding schools pick up even more, with some laying on, say, special English classes for Chinese students. This market has also encouraged the proliferation of private colleges. The fees are not insignificant so their families will expect students to work hard. Some of the results are impressive. However it will help if the year is seen as a way of getting to the next stage. Work hard, get the results and you are on your way.

I think for DC's cousin, the year was pretty much spent in limbo. He did not know many people other than his classmates and had stacks of homework which dominated each weekend. But he is now in the school he wanted to go to, over the transition, enjoying himself and with 10 A*s at GCSE well placed to apply for a good University.

In terms of the state sector if your daughter did go to a private college, she would presumably apply in the normal way for either a place at a school sixth form or at a sixth form college. Lots of kids move at this point. She will need predicted results. If these are good there is nothing to stop her getting a place at a selective school, perhaps a grammar. Catchments don't apply in the same way as they did at 11.

British Universities have always taken a lot of overseas students. However they have a set number of places for British students.

6th form shouldn't be difficult ,the problem with year11 is that no one moves school then as year 10 and 11 are really a two year course .

I don't think there are lots of international students trying to get into UK secondary schools , it's more that schools here don't have to take you just because you live near them so there is a bit of a lottery getting in and then people tend to stay once they are in .Hence no spaces, plus as I said before moving in year 11 is just not done.

Tonbridge Grammar School is a state IB (in the sixth form) school. Try - they might be a lot more interested in a later incomer from abroad than you would think.

It will be nowhere near as problematic getting her into a 6th form as this is a time for movement in the system and lots of DC change schools then.

MJIG. That was me. However my point is that there is now a very different market.

If you are an overseas candidate getting into a good British University is often easier than into an Ivy League and there is a historic tradition of students from many countries coming to the UK. In addition the University systems in many European countries can be less attractive than those in the UK. (Very simply put some systems take in lots of students many of whom fail the first year. It may be harder to get into a UK University but you are expected to stay the course.)

Doing some of your schooling in the UK and in English will increase your chances of getting a place at the UK University. The University understands your qualification, knows you are familiar with living in England and can study in English. Hence two of DCs cousins ended up studying at London colleges, one for GCSE and the other for A level. They both ended up with very good, indeed excellent, GCSE and AS results. There is something to be said for small groups of motivated students all in the same boat.

There are still one or two colleges that seem to pick up the failing public school boys who need to resit, but you ought to be able to weed those out simply by looking at results or by talking to them and asking where their students come from.

Whether private or state my guess is that teachers in mainstream schools will struggle to find the extra support a new entrant at Yr 11 will need. At the very least you should offer to "home ed" through the summer so your child is at least familiar with the work covered by the others. With the exam rush in full swing a new child might struggle to break into existing social groups and into school teams and activities. Better to find an international school working to the same syllabus, start in year 10, or use a specialist college (or perhaps home ed if feasible) to get through to the next natural entry point which is sixth form.

I do hop things work out Spalva , your dd sounds lovely and this must be do hard for you all . Fingers crossed

Well, outtolunchagain, you gave me a bit of courage to grovel to a few schools today. :-) It will be your good deed of the day if any works out!

Sorry, not read the whole thread. There is an American/International school in Cobham. ACS Cobham. I think she may be able to continue the US education system there.

Possible until she can move to the UK system? Just a thought.

I would also add that sometimes it is well worth politely but firmly persisting , as schools do get a lot of enquiries and you may just need to get through to the next level of management IYSWIM .Make sure they know your particular circumstances etc

Oh dear , I work in an independent school and whilst we would respond that bursaries have been allocated for a routine enquiry ( although I hope not rudely) your special circumstances would be taken into account and discretionary funds are sometimes available for outstanding candidates . We are not in your preferred area though so that doesn't help you .

outtolunchagain -- (great name!) I have been rudely; prissily informed by many independent schools that bursaries are already allocated for the year.

Year 11 is possibly the most difficult year for moving to a new school and few places will come up for entry into that year as it is the second year of the GCSE course.Very few students will be moving school at that time and it would be difficult for a new student from abroad to cover a two year syllabus in one year without some personal tuition (it isn't that the educational level would necessarily be different but the syllabi would be) . You should contact the schools you are interested in and discuss possiblities with the school and also contact the local education authority for the area you would like to move to.

Spalva with qualities such as you indicate I would definitely be approaching independent schools with a view to getting a bursary .Even if you have missed the normal round many schools will have discretionary funds for such circumstances .

just found this thread (thanks Spalva)

I am in a similar situation - contemplating moving this year but my DD would also be entering year 11 in Sept.

The difference being that mine is not top of the class and would definitely struggle to cram GCSEs into one year, but would rather die than be put down a year (she's an autumn birthday). An added problem is that she has been studying Italian as her MFL for 3 years, and it's pretty hard to find a school that offers it.

Do both Hockerill and the Anglo-European take pupils in year 11? Did any schools offer a viable solution to the problem?

Maybe we can all just write advertisements for our dc and put them in the newspapers!

Having lived in Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, France, the United States and Lithuania and having spoken, been instructed in or studied Kyrgyz, Russian, Ukrainian, French, English and Lithuanian, 12 year-old bilingual, straight A student, gifted and talented, winner at her previous international school of the 2012 Math Day, 2012 Robotics Tournament in Budapest and 2012 Middle School Science Fair is seeking situation in a decent, friendly secondary school with science/tech extracurricular activities in an affordable neighbourhood/town/village somewhere within an hour's commute to Moorgate. And please don't allow her to be bullied by raccoon-faced, orange-skinned girls with their skirts hiked up.

One complicating factor is that many North Essex schools start GCSE courses at the start of yr9, with top sets sitting the final exams at the end of yr10. This means that the option of starting in yr10 may not be a great one in those schools.

Those schools do tend to have a 1 year enrichment/extension curriculum for those yr11 top students who have completed most courses. But I don't know if they'd be happy to accept an international student onto that sort of course, because the fact that she doesn't have GCSE passes would affect their school league table results.