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

How quickly could you move? He could probably catch up with ib a few weeks into term. He could also switch to an ib college tomorrow if there is one with a space local to you in anticipation of the move

My daughter did the IB having been in a completely different type of school. She found it easier. There are different levels and you do 6 subjects so it’s more adaptable to your strengths and weaknesses.

What does he think about it? At a similar age my dad had an almost job offer in Hong Kong and I was really up for it it sounded so cool even though inhad great friends in the uk, we didn’t end up moving then but it planted the seed for me to move there in my 20s and I had a ball

Will he definitely be eligible for IB for the entire durstion, if he'll be a year behind? In the UK, most people who moved wouldn't be funded for a 2 year course if they were over 18 at the start of the second year, which it sounds like he will be, maybe even 19.

If you're not looking to move til Summer 2027 I'd strongly consider whether it's possible to leave him to do his final year of A-levels whilst living with a friend or relative. It'll literally be 8.5 months, and you/he could visit the other at Xmas, and he could come out for am extended summer hol after his final a level exams. It'd also be (potentially) a year from you moving out there to him starting uni, if he stays in UK (he'd probably be 18). Versus likely 3 years if he moves, and wants to go to UK uni, due to him having to drop back a year, and the year not starting til January, so he'd have to wait til Sept to come to UK uni.
He also may not have legal right to remain in Aus during that gap, and may not have rights to work etc, so you probably want to check that out too.

The other option is your DH goes out to Aus summer 2027 and gets himself set up, and you stay in the UK with your kid until he finishes his A-levels, even if you end up renting for a bit.

I know there's been lots since- but I wanted to make a comment about home fees - you really need to check this, if you want/expect him to come back to the UK for University (which is the assumption I am making - so happy to be corrected piled on if I am wrong...

UK university home status is contingent on you being resident in the UK for the 2-3 years prior to your university starting... and even if you get home fee status for the student finance loan for fees (which is University dependent), he may be treated as an international student for student finance support (living costs loan - this is sometimes dependent on yoru tax/residency in the 2 years prior) - which means he would be ineligible and you would have to fully fund his accomodation and living costs.

I absolutely think you should go and do it, but I think you need to be mindful of wider wider picture...

What does your son want to do post A levels? If you and he waiting a year to go join your husband would he still be able to get a visa as he would be over 18?

He could start this January if you can get everything in place. Alternatively if it has to be next summer, can he stay with grandparents, cousins or friends even for one year? I know his welfare is paramount but good jobs are hard to find. Alternatively your husband starts next summer and you stay in the uk for basically 10 months.

Now you say you wouldn’t be moving until the summer that changes things -
so he’d do a whole year of a-levels to potentially throw all that work away? That’s not right
if you went to Australia by Christmas or at the very beginning of the year that would be better because the academic year starts in Jan/feb in Australia I think?

that said for just a year might he be able to stay with relatives for year 13?

in short I wouldn’t uproot the family to Australia at the end of year 12! I would at the beginning though. However in your circs I would send your dh. Presumably waiting in the UK for your son to finish school however might then make it more complicated for any younger children if you have them.

For a 16/17 old the opportunity to move abroad and study for an IB is amazing. It will put him ahead in university and job prospects. If you can give this to him, why wouldn't you?

Hi OP, having lived in Australia I suggest you join one or both of the following Facebook groups which will have loads of informed opinions on this:
UK Mums in Melbourne
Brits in Melbourne

I'm sure there are similar groups for the other major cities but I know these two are particularly active and have lots of UK parents who have moved over there with children of all ages.

one thing to be wary of:
to qualify as a UK applicant for British universities you have to be resident in the UK for three years prior to the first day of the course. So if your son moves to Australia and then wants to come back for uni post A-Level he will be treated as an international student (with the increased fees associated with that) even though he is a British citizen.

I wouldn’t reject it immediately because your son will move on in few years but if you need to sell your house it will impact the welfare of the rest of your kids and yourself too to be honest. Is the salary offered good enough to sustain you in Australia? It’s a very expensive move.

I'd recommend IB over A Levels anyway. It's internationally recognised and has the perception of more rounded students.

I said something similar - but the two loans - tuition and maintenance - aren't treated separately in terms of home/international aspects. Home/international status is relevant to tuition fees only. The student finance is separate - that's the part that requires 3 years' residence. There are people who e.g. live in Singapore but qualify for home fees because their parents are on a temporary contract, but they won't qualify for student finance, because they've been living in Singapore, not UK and don't meet the 3-year rule. It's a complex system and it's easy for people to get caught out by moving abroad, even for a while. Even with home fees, you'd be looking at funding £60k+ over 3 years... :-/

Thank you everybody for the advice and posts; I am reading through them and will reply properly.

At the moment, I can’t see this really working to be honest.

Think we will have to send my husband on ahead while we stay here.

it’s fixed term and if we don’t sell the house it will be classed as a a temporary move which it very much is for university purposes.

We were living on one foreign country and then they moved to another totally far away, another continent. I was fine about it but I generally take things in my stride. When I look back though I think it was wrong, it was really hard them being so far away when I was at university in England. Massive journey is ok but the hard thing actually is the time zones, not being able to phone my mum when i wanted etc. I found it very isolating. I don’t want that for my son. I am super confident and always have been: my son not so. He’s sensitive and introverted.

Your son has only just started. Could he change now to an IB online then move quickly?

Well no, true, we haven’t really got a choice. My husband is in a niche field and these jobs don’t generally come up much.

I haven't read the whole thread, but did you know that there are some outstanding state schools and sixth form colleges that offer boarding? It is at far lower cost than independent school boarding.

It is a shame that A level courses are starting up now, but I wonder if, even at this stage, a late registration might be possible, if that would help you?

I would do that too. I'd much rather let my husband live by himself than leave my 17 year old in a country on the other side of the planet. Boarding school makes no sense when there isn't a reason for both of you to be in Australia. Either way the family will be living in separate countries for a while, but the child is your first priority.

There was never any question of my son being left. I’d never leave him.

@FergussSingsTheBlues

Which part of Australia, OP?

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.

Internationally, the English A Level specialisation is actually an outlier. A spread of subjects for a matriculation qualification is the norm elsewhere - even in Scotland, with Highers! Lots of 17-18 year olds manage this, internationally. And frankly, I think it's far better that all matriculating pupils have a nodding acquaintance with both humanities and STEM subjects.

I now teach in the arts & humanities at a RG university, but I have the equivalent of AS levels in Physics, Chemistry and Maths, as well as History, English, French, and Art. Quite a normal spread for pupils achieving in the upper half of results in Australia.

So a bright lad heading up for A Levels will be absolutely fine in Australia.

I suspect that @FergussSingsTheBlues is fixating on this, as a cover for a lot of other uncertainties about emigration. It's only natural - it's a big step to take, to go to a different country & culture.

Good point about Scotland - and it wasn't as narrow in England and Wales while we had AS levels, you could at least do say Maths AS alongside humanities A levels. In fact, does Wales still have AS levels?

But anyway, if I were an employer, I'd always be impressed to see the IB over A levels. Definitely separates the sheep from the goats. As someone who did very narrow A levels I wouldn't have done too well with the IB.

I suspect Australia is a better bet than UK now

That's very kind of you to put your son first, speaking as somebody who had to emigrate at a child just before my GCSEs and ended up having to do a baccalaureat in a foreign language instead. I wish somebody had bothered to ask me what I wanted!
I'd see how your son feels about it and explore all options available with him.
IB is an excellent qualification. I have a French one and it's considered a higher level than A level and gets you lots of UCAS points.
It's possible it may take a long time to arrange visas and moving so the question may become moot.