AIBU to turn down Australia job offer because son has started A levels?

[FergussSingsTheBlues]

My husband has been offered a job in Australia. Neither is us can find full time work in the uk and we know we’ll need to sell our house in two years if this carries on. We are relieved to say the least. We’ve both lived abroad plenty so it’s something we know we can deal with.

The problem is my eldest son has literally last week just started a levels.
There are zero schools or colleges that do a levels where we would be going, it’s all IB.

Boarding won’t be an option or living apart, we’re a very close family and would find that traumatic.

Has anybody else been in this position? I don’t see how we can make this work because of education and think we’ll have to turn it down. (We know he’d be allowed domestic fees for university but I don’t know further information). My son is bright and hardworking and we don’t want to wreck his prospects

IB is just as good as A levels. English universities accept it so if he wanted to come back to UK for uni he would be fine. I actually think IB sounds more impressive than A levels anyway. Shows you have experience of living in a foreign country.

YABU.

If you're emigrating to Australia, you're living in Australia as a migrant. You're living there, not as an "ex-pat" - you're a migrant!

Most Australian states do a Higher School Certificate, or similar, which is enough for your DS to get back to UK HE if he wanted to, and if you wanted to pay international tuition fees. Australian schools are very good, and easily comparable to UK schools (probably ahead on maths & science, although behind on European languages).

Australian universities are excellent: the old "sandstone" universities - University of Sydney, University of Melbourne, University of Western Australia, and University of Queensland, are regularly in the top 50 universities in the world (via QS rankings).

Young people from all over Asia (especially Chinese diaspora in Malaysia, and the Taiwanese) go to Australia for their last 2 years of school and then stay for university. The country has an excellent education system, particularly attractive to Asian "tiger mothers"!

And your qualms about the IB are misplaced - it's an excellent curriculum, and superior to A Levels in one respect: it requires a much broader range of subjects/disciplines, and offers a much broader base for HE.

What subjects & disciplines is your DS interested in ?

Whereabouts in Australia are you looking at relocating? And are you looking at a permanent move? If so, your son doesn't need to continue with A Levels. The Australian secondary school is 6 rather than 7 years (ie 5th & 6th form, not 5th then Lower then Upper 6th - or the Year equivalents ...) So he's likely to be on par or even ahead. I was 18 months ahead when we migrated to Australia and so I skipped a year of school.

Lots to think about, and your desire to refuse the job because of A Levels suggests you haven't quite thought through the impacts of migration at a deep level. Australia isn't just England with jobs & sunshine! Have you spent time there? Talked to Australians with DC in high school?

Australian schools are very good, and easily comparable to UK schools (probably ahead on maths & science, although behind on European languages).

It's not the quality of education, it's the timing. OP says the move would take place in summer 2027, when her son would be half way through studying for A Levels which he would expect to take in May/June 2028. He would have to start all over again in Australia.

My grandsons (age 9) father went to Australia last year to work supposedly a fantastic job, that would get him a great job when back in uk. It was supposed to be for 2yrs and he was supposed to fly back every 2 months to see my grandson. He came back 3 times in a year and now he's coming back for good didn't last 2yrs and the job hel be doing back in the UK he could have trained for anywhere here. Australia isn't all its cracked up to be I know a lot of people who end up back home. But to leave your kids is horrible and unnecessary. Can't you wait? Can't you manage until your boy is over 18 & knows what he wants to do?

He'd start in late January-February, and take public exams in November - December. He'd lose 6 months, but could jin a school in July in Australia (it's winter there then, remember). Long summer holiday is December-January. Although good luck with weeks at 30 degrees (why I came back to the UK, reason #324)

Nothing to do with your child's school, but:

when making your decision, please don't forget if you earn more than equivalent of appx 47,000 pounds (95,000 joint in a dual household) you HAVE to take out private health insurance. According to Aus gov average bill to patient for calling out an ambulance is 500 pounds plus nearly 10 pounds a mile!

i believe school years in Australia run January to December. So he may not miss out on graduating any later.

I appreciate you not wanting to divide the family up based on your own personal trauma, that's really sad. however try not to put that trauma on your son, you and your husband are obviously much more aware than your own parents were, does he have any other family members he could stay with? or even a close family friend. I would have thought he would be more upset about leaving friends than his A-level course, i know i would have been at his age.

As others have said, your husband goes now and you and son stay in the UK while he finishes his A Levels. You move to Australia at that point. Son may then choose to remain in the UK or move to Australia.

I speak as a parent of a son who did IB in the UK instead of A Levels. It was very hard work. I can't imagine how hard it would be being thrust into a new country, new school system and new qualification all at once, with no friends there for support.

Sorry don’t have time to read the whole thread so apologies if someone has already mentioned, but this is important: even if he gets home feeling status with universities, he will not get a student loan.

If you are seriously thinking about it could you move for him to restart the Australian school year in Jan/Feb which is like their September? Then he wouldn’t lose a year

I lived abroad as a teen and did IB instead of A-levels. It has caused no difficulties when applying for uni or in later life!

Presumably you're looking at international schools if you've found one that offers IB? They're normally very well set up for students transferring part way through the year and from different educational systems. I really wouldn't let this be the thing that stops you going.

Just be aware that if your son ever wanted to go to a UK university he would have had to have lived in the UK for three years directly beforehand in order to access student finance for tuition and maintenance (totally separate from the home/International fees issue - even if he got home fees and had been in AUS for a couple of years, he's likely have to fund himself (unless there is an Australian loan system that would lend for this - no idea)).

He'd start in late January-February, and take public exams in November - December.

Doing the equivalent of A levels, with a whole new curriculum, in just one year?

We belong to a church and a couple (both doctors) moved out on a missionary placement years ago. Their 3 children went with them, but are now all her (working, uni and 6th form). Obviously, if you don't think the move is right, don't go, but I don't think you should just be presuming it will be wrong.

Easy solution - hubby goes abroad and works while renting for a bit and ds finishes his a levels.
Will be much easier, then you can join dh after ds has done his qualifications. There will be no rush to move then and you will have time to sort out educational options if ds is considering uni.

Well, that 's why I asked about subjects and disciplines. But most of the knowledge is pretty much the same - even if the water does swirl around the plughole in the opposite way! And it would be 18months if they emigrated in July.

You say he is your “eldest”

how old are your other children?

Have you asked son about it?
moving next year he’ll have sime
AS or is it different now?

an extra year in the scheme of things isn’t much. Would be be uni in Australia or coming back without you?

Why did your parents do this with regard to you at 16?

To do the IB you have to be good across a spread of subjects rather than specialising like you do in the UK so I am always impressed when I see someone has done the IB.

You don't need to live overseas to do it though, my old school in Devon offers it these days.

That really isn't a barrier OP - let your son do the IB and go to Australia. Or find an online school to do A levels with like https://kingsinterhigh.co.uk/ but I think the IB is better.

And also, your son is not you.

ok there are options:

• you turn it down
• your husband goes on his own for the first year whilst your son finishes a levels
• your son stays behind for a year and moves in with a friend and joins you for say Christmas or you come back for it.
• you move your son to a different school now where he starts on IB (see if new job will pay)
• your son moves school at end of the year and does a levels in Australia somehow or starts again there with IB
• see if you can move out already in feb and he starts already at the start of the aus school year

Yep i think OP is underthinking things like this - he may get lucky and qualify for Home fees in the UK, like if they can prove their move is temporary. But typically students have to be ordinarily resident in the UK for 3 years prior to study to qualify for Home fees.

If Aus unis have similar rules he'd be international fees there too.

Plus the student loan/maintenance thing. Probably would be a good idea to work out finances of everything.

I'd ask your DS to seriously consider doing the IB. Perhaps he should talk to some of the tutors at the school you're considering (if you move to Australia) to get a sense of what he could expect. If he's bright, he'll probably enjoy the challenges.