Aibu to think that the Scottish education system is far superior to the English one?

[Margerykemp]

What I see on the news and here about GCSEs and it sounds crazy!
-different exam boards
-modular exams
-sitting exams in different years
-inflexible attitude to deferring entry
-no automatic entry to local school
-league tables
-some courses being 'worth' numerous GCSEs
-going to secondary at 10/11 rather than 11/12
-church schools
-academies
-different systems in different regions
-local authorities not having enough places for all their residents
-a high proportion of private schools, with eye watering fees
-schools making kids do 'Micky mouse subjects' to get them up the league tables
-a ' choice' system which favours pushy middle class parents

• lottery placements

-too big a jump from GCSEs to a level -too few a levels taken -not knowing a level results before applying to uni -Michael Gove being in charge!

I don't know how you all put up with it!

I'm not an expert on SN but seems to me that provision seems to be patchwork rather than good in England bad in Scotland or vice versa.

Sorry tabulahrasa, I see what you mean now. I thought you were just talking about end of S4 and upwards.

Sorry, I can see why you thought I meant in place of standard grades as I jumped from one to the other, lol

What I mean is that the current S3 started secondary English, with a course that teachers had had to invent where the only rules were - don't use 5-14 and here are some vague ideals about education...oh aye, teach them some literacy skills, but we're not going to tell you which ones we want until you're half way through teaching them. Don't get me wrong I think on the whole teachers have done very well considering, but, couple that with them also being the first year to sit the final assessments in S4, I think they'll suffer for it.

It shouldn't have been implemented before it had been more thoroughly worked out IMO and in the opinion of many others as well.

The ASN/SEN thing, I think both countries don't do well enough - and it's a postcode lottery no matter which country you're in. It's just that the bureaucracy of statementing seems massively onerous on parents and in areas of Scotland where it's well run it's much easier for parents to navigate than statementing seems to be. But then I probably never hear about the areas in England where it's running well, because nobody is complaining about it, lol.

Imogen, I think it's the case that all the children going into p1 have a right to their catchment school. A family moving into the area with older children wouldn't be guaranteed a place if, for example, the year was full.

For large p1 intakes, schools will get a hut for a classroom and more teachers.

Haven't read the whole thread, but just wanted to say that I was able to add in a higher in 6th year that I never thought I'd do, then when onto study that subject at uni, but I went to an English uni. All the other students had done a level in my subject, and I'd done a crash higher (no o grade first) because it was music, and I already had the performance element in place before taking on the higher (had done my grade 8).

When I first went to uni, I felt totally ignorant, knew very little about my subject compared to my contemporaries etc. But, it didn't matter too much when we got onto following the course. It was new to everyone, and I soon caught up. I went on to get a first class hons degree, so it obviously didn't handicap me.

One thing that I find sad now is that very few Scottish students break away and move to England to study, because of the fees situation. There's always been a bit of a parochial attitude towards uni here in Scotland, but moving away really opened y eyes to other worlds, other types of people etc, and I think it's sad that Scottish students are less likely to do it, and also might restrict their choices of the best courses for them because of it. (although it's great that Scotland still provides fee-free uni education).

If you had read the whole thread you would realise that I had already mentioned your scratch higher in one of my posts, 'cept I got it a bit wrong because I forgot you did it in sixth year. Hello sis!

Ha ha. How funny.

Ha ha. How funny.

Imogen I think you are maybe only entitled to a catchment place initially. I read something that suggested councils would refuse too many placing requests as not in interest of DC to be moving school al the time...

I would guess DD was enrolled initially under the catchment, then you put in placing request one which was granted, the council didn't grant placing request too as they thought wasn't in interests of DC?

CfE is a mess. We are being asked to teach N4/5 now despite having no information about what the final exam will look like. The school keep asking us to create assessments for it which we keep having to change as the next set of documents come out.

Ordinarily resident has been defined in the courts as 'habitual and normal residence in one place'. It basically means that you, your parents or your husband, wife or civil partner live in a country year after year by choice throughout a set period, apart from temporary or occasional absences such as holidays or business trips. Living here totally or mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education does not count as being ordinarily resident.

We will not treat you as being ordinarily resident in Scotland if your main purpose in coming here has been to receive full-time education and that you would have otherwise been lililililiving elsewhere.

From: www.saas.gov.uk/student_support/residence_conditions.htm

It looks like 3 years might count as ordinarily resident, but SAAS are very careful not to state an actual period. I would guess they ask for address history and then each case on merits?