Moving to Scotland during GCSEs

[LRP1971]

Hi,

My daughter is 15 (will be 16 in Nov) and is coming towards end of year 10, her first year of GCSEs. As we know learning hasn’t been great this year.

I want to move to Scotland but need some help on the best times to do this and what that means for her education please. Is it best to wait until she finishes GCSEs next summer? What year would she be in then in Scotland? Or can we move sooner?

I think she is likely to go to uni in future.

Thanks all

Laura

Am puzzled by that answer as I understood Scots did Nat 5s in year 11 or at the same time as the english take their GCSEs, then highers in year 12 ans advanced highers if they do them in year 13 ie the academic year the are 18 at the end of.

Are you sure your chronology above is right?

Given that Scots can leave after highers, your outline would have them coming out when their english equivalents had just taken GCSEs which doesn’t seem right?

Scots do 7 years at primary starting at 4.5 at the youngest and up to 6 at secondary- they can leave after 4th year in fact (so after nat4/5s) as long as they are 16.
With a November birthday she’d be in the younger end of the school year in Scotland- the cut off is end feb but jan/feb kids can automatically defer. My dec born son was the youngest boy in his class at primary.

Scots can leave after their Nat 5s ie at the end of S4.

It is best to wait until she's sat her GCSEs. Then she will start her Highers course in S5 ( year 12)

Nat 5 is the equivalent of GCSE. Theoretically it's only a 1 year course in S4 (year 11) however most schools start them in last term of S3 so she would miss the first part of the course unless you can move in the next month!

I think it's the same in s4 though - in normal non-covid years do they not start the Higher courses at the end of May? I think everyone normally moves up a year at the end of the exams and does a month or so of the new courses before the summer holidays.

It also depends on schools a bit, but generally kids here do less Nat5s than they do GSCEs in England (at least in state schools) - ours are limited to 6 in s4 but they take 9 or 10 subjects in s3 and drop the extra ones in s4. They then do up to 5 highers (possibly 6 for a very few of the very academic ones) in s5 and either more highers or advanced highers in s6 (or a mix).

Id ask to move this to Scotsnet they answer questions like this all the time.
You can leave school at 16 but you are supposed to go into a job with training or go to FE college, most do and this is checked up on (my DS1 left at 16).