Year 11 Child moved from Scotland to England and content to learn overwhelming - son doesn't want to even try

Moving end y10 / start y11 is very hard, my DD pulled it off locally and she wanted the change but many cannot do that move and in addition he has loss of friend group, house, special needs, different system. If there's any way to put him back I would do that. Its no wonder he is struggling. I don't think there's many y11s who would want to go back into y10 even if you can get it which isn't that easy though it might be an option.

If that's not an option then would focus on English and Maths - if you can help him or if you can afford it and he would work with one a tutor could help build his confidence and knowledge. Science seems a very big ask, and if he's borderline passing level he might be wasting his time. He might be best to focus on say 5 or so and try and pass those and then not worry about failing the others if school insist on entering him. School may also change if it becomes clear he will fail.

Unless this was completely unavoidable you're a heartless heartless person.
If it was unavoidable I'd be looking at online options for a leaving certificate.

Cut off does make a difference - but really only one way that would benefit OP. My DS goes to school in England, his cousin, who is 3 months older than him is in the year below in Scotland. So if DS went to Scotland he’d naturally move down a year, but in reverse his cousin would move up and essentially have missed a full year of school.

I know, I live in Scotland. You can be 16 and doing your Nat 5s here, so if he moves onto Year 10 then is there a possibility he’ll be in with 14 year olds?

My parents moved when I was halfway through my O levels. The move was from one place in England to another but in many subjects the syllabus was different. So as well as having left my friends behind I had all this to contend with. Do you ever expect your son to forgive you?

That might not be as bad as it seems because don't forget the age cut off for school years in Scotland is different anyway.

How many 15-16 year olds who are struggling with the social and academic side of a huge move to a different country away from their friends are going to take kindly to being put back a year with children a year younger than them though? As if he hasn’t enough to deal with.

Your poor, poor son. When is his birthday? I would move him back to year 10. You really should have looked at the year he’d be going into before you moved, none of this is fair on him.

Can we all just assume that OP didn't do this for shits and giggles?! I'm sure she feels bad enough without all these very unhelpful comments.

I agree move to Yr10 and start with a longer run up.

That's a completely crazy move. The English system is very different, kids start school earlier, exams in different years, different curriculum etc. Your poor son :-(

Poor, poor child. He’s been set up to fail. Even an incredibly bright, able teenager would struggle in this situation. I’m not surprised he isn’t interested in trying - it will get him nowhere.

Well, he’s not wrong. He is very unlikely to be able to catch up a year’s work in one subject over the next few months, let alone several.

Put him in Year 10 in a different school, then at least there will be some choices.

Moving him into Y10 would be much kinder. How can he possibly do mocks in Nov based on over a year's curriculum he hasn't done?

Or could he do online school just for this year to complete his Scottish exams and then into school or college for English A levels?

Do whatever you can to get him back to his old school to finish off year 11. My parents moved me at the same time and I had so much to catch up on it was just impossible. I failed every subject and it effected me for years after both academically and even more so emotionally. Even at the age of 47 it still haunts me!

I'm going to assume you had no choice but to move countries. As an adult who did GCSEs and has children in the Scottish system currently, you really need to make changes now. You mention triple science and the others having learned this stuff for a year, but in England it really all carries on from the beginning of senior school, so potentially they have been learning for 4 years already.

Even moving back to Y10 may not be enough to get him to pass GCSEs. Especially with dyslexia adding to it. I would seriously look at online learning for the Scottish curriculum if you are unable to let him continue in Scotland,

I really feel for him as honestly he could work his arse off and still fail everything. And it is not his fault.

Can one of you take him back to Scotland and camp out in a bedsit for a couple of years? Or boarding? Stay with relatives?

With all due respect, moving into 6th form is very different. A levels in certain subjects (such as Business) are much more self contained and don;t necessarily presume prior knowledge.

I am a secondary teacher and have worked in both systems. GCSE content is absolutely more overwhelming than N5, but a key difference is that students in English curriculum schools have Year 9 with a grounding in all potential exam subjects, Year 10 to make GCSE choices, and then exam focus and prep in Year 11.

In Scotland some schools teach Broad General until the end of S3, then narrow down the curriculum to fewer subjects in S4 to prepare for exams.

Switching from S4 to Y11 is just too hard. If it’s not feasible for him to finish N5 in Scotland, I would make a request to drop down to Y10 now before he becomes any more disillusioned.

Ok just posting to give OP a different perspective, since there's such a pile on.
These things happen, they just have to be dealt with. PPs are completely catastrophysing with the whole poor boy, life altering etc etc.
I personally moved from the continent - a very different education system - to the British isles at 17.
Went from - sequentially - the equivalent of 4th form (i.e. I would have had to do two more years at home before our equivalent of the baccalaureate). Into 6th form here. And sat the exams!
Completely different curriculum, and even subjects I'd never done before (business org). And I have ADHD (finally diagnosed now decades later).
It's not the end of the world.

I agree that it would be best if he either returns to his old school or goes into Y10. Most schools will have covered at least 3 fifths of the curriculum by now. If not more.

You risk his education, short term prospects, confidence, and mental health if you don't take radical steps now to give him a fair shot.

If you really have to persist with his current Y11 set up, does he have any career aspirations at the moment? If he does, focus on the subjects that will help him towards that.

I feel for you. Regardless of the reasons why you moved at this point, it must be hard to see him struggling so much.

We don't know the circumstances of why he had to move so I'll reserve judgement there. I would ask for him to be put in year 10 asap. And even that will be difficult to be honest. Perhaps get him to concentrate on some more vocational courses? But I certainly wouldn't leave him in year 11. He has missed more than half of the GCSE content. Even the most academic of children would find this extremely difficult. I have no idea why his current school even allowed it.

It's not unusual for children with dyslexia to feel overwhelmed and panic before big exams even when things are normal. But your poor guy is in a situation which would be very difficult for the most able child.
Can you pick a few topics and write out notes in a simple way and you will have to tutor him yourself every single day. He cannot be left alone to study as that's nearly an impossibility for him with his dyslexia. He would have found the Scottish exams difficult and would have needed you to help him too.
In lreland we have Youth Reach where dc who find school difficult can learn in a more relaxed, highly supportive way. Is there any system like that? Or he might learn better online.

Just to echo what everyone else has said; this is setting him up to fail.
Either find a boarding school in Scotland or drop a year in England. You can't expect him to make up all that work in only a few months especially with dyslexia. No wonder the poor lad can't face it, it probably seems like an insurmountable challenge.

Bloody hell, how on earth is he meant to get his GCSEs when he’s missed half the gcse curriculum? He needs to either go back to Scotland to finish his exams there in the system he is familiar with or drop a year and go to year 10 in England. I can’t see how he could possibly get through year 11 with GCSE passes otherwise.

It is a known thing that once year 10 has started you don't move your child in England. he would be at a huge disadvantage even if he had come from another English school. Adding dyslexia into the mix is a recipe for disaster. GCSE's are a 2 year course, in fact many schools do them over 3 years.

My nephew moved schools at the end of year 10 due to bullying etc and educationally it was disastrous, he failed all his GCSE's.