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Education

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Original poster

Relocate from England to Scotland this May/June and should my DS finish GCSE before joining new school in Scotland?

34 replies

graceandmercy · 27/03/2022 23:19

Hi there, would like to seek advice from all. My DS age 16 now and I plan to relocate to Scotland this Spring/summer and originally plan to start new school in Scotland after his gcse (the last subject being 23/6) but found then he will leave with only few days to know his new schoolmates before the summer break. While no anticipation of a flying result from this gcse, some friends strongly us to finish the gcse before relocating. Whats your view on this? Thank you so much.

OP posts:

Cbes · 27/03/2022 23:24

Definitely finish his GCSEs.

Scottish kids will be finishing off their N5s at the same time anyway, so if you move in the middle of his exams not only will he massively miss out on his qualifications, but he still won’t be making new friends at school.

Move after exams and get him joined up to some clubs. Judo? Football?

Wbeezer · 27/03/2022 23:31

The only problem is that the Scottish students finish their exams in May and start their Highers at the beginning of June so he'd miss 3 or 4 weeks of the start of the next year's course and would be on the back foot after the summer.

Original poster

graceandmercy · 28/03/2022 14:59

Thank you for the input. Indeed would it be any chance that my DS be admitted to S4? If so he would get time to adapt to new environment, new curriculum and friends.

OP posts:

HomeHomeInTheRange · 28/03/2022 15:04

He should definitely finish his GCSEs.

Neonskytonight · 28/03/2022 15:04

No he would go into S5

Cbes · 28/03/2022 18:32

If he went into S4 he would have been held back a year, which would be very unusual for the age. One to discuss with the school I think . It can’t hurt to ask. What month is his birthday? Is he young or old for his year?

Original poster

graceandmercy · 28/03/2022 18:44

he is now 16 and will turn 17 in mid of Aug. I got your point but as He has attention deficiency and on CAMHS waiting list (for unknown period of time despite he has to sit for the GCSE), I do think DS needs more time for adaptation.

OP posts:

Cbes · 28/03/2022 19:53

Do you know yet which school he would be going to (i.e. where you would be moving to)? If so could you arrange to speak to them to talk through options. I’m sure they would be able to guide you through what his best options might be

Original poster

graceandmercy · 28/03/2022 20:11

@Cbes thanks so much. indeed I agree with you and will send an email to the school to discuss about this.

OP posts:

Cbes · 28/03/2022 20:23

No problem at all! You might also want to join the Scotsnet board if you have any questions about where you are moving to, and the Scottish-specific education questions often get asked on there too.

Best of luck for your move, and I hope your DS settles in well and makes loads of new friends.

Sockpile · 28/03/2022 20:27

Is he already a year behind his peers? If so that may make it more difficult to go back a year.

Original poster

graceandmercy · 28/03/2022 20:43

@Sockpile he is doing the same year of his age (i believe), as many of his schoolmates are older than him.
@Cbes i am very new here and that being my first post there😅. may i know how to onboard the Scotsnet?
We are now checking with Stirling schools and hopefully everything goes smooth.

OP posts:

Cbes · 28/03/2022 20:51

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/scotsnet

RampantIvy · 28/03/2022 21:23

he is doing the same year of his age (I believe), as many of his schoolmates are older than him.

It is usual to sit GCSEs in the academic year that they turn 16 (year 11), so most students will already be 16, but some will be 15. If he is turning 17 in August he is already a year behind.

Ofcourseinamechangedforthisyou · 28/03/2022 21:33

Sit his GCSEs. The courses aren't comparable and the Scots kids will have sat their Nat5s in may so if you might him beforehand he won't have any qualifications at that stage.

23rd June is the end of term - think he'll be lucky to be in school for a week.

Most schools do a thing where after exam leave (end of may) they bring the kids back into the next year group (hence why pp said he'd go into s5).

He's going to have to peddle hard to bridge some of the differences in NAT 5/GCSE and in missing the last three weeks of term. You've got options though: hard work, doing s4 again or doing S5 and repeating if he's struggling to bridge it.

Don't bring him up earlier if it's going to cost him his GCSEs.

Original poster

graceandmercy · 28/03/2022 21:36

@RampantIvy oh yes he will turn 17 in Aug.
@Cbes thx and let me dive into the scotsnet now☺️

OP posts:

Wbeezer · 28/03/2022 23:20

I hate to rain on his parade but I would suspect that ADHD could be a barrier to training in air traffic control, I know it is for the armed forces and some similar jobs, better check if you haven't already.

Wbeezer · 28/03/2022 23:25

I posted earlier but it failed to load. College could be an alternative my DS1 did badly at Nat 5 and didn't finish S5, he did an access course then a National Cert course (same level as Highers) at college and is going onto a Computing degree next.
Its not as good socially though as its mixed ages (DS1 is a bit anti social though).

Cbes · 29/03/2022 00:03

@Wbeezer

Air traffic control? Is that a very literal interpretation of “flying result” or am I missing something?

Wbeezer · 29/03/2022 08:12

Sorry I'm getting mixed up with another thread, ignore my last post which makes no sense in this context!

Revengeofthepangolins · 29/03/2022 08:59

The age is a bit odd. Generally children in year 11 or gcse year turn 16 in the course of the school year (ie by the end of august). So his peers with august birthdays would be turning 16 this august. Which would mean he is already a year behind.

Clearly you’d know if this is the case :-),so I think there is a misunderstanding somewhere.

Revengeofthepangolins · 29/03/2022 09:00

I believe ages work a little differently in scotland but that wouldn’t explain him being out of year in England .

MaChienEstUnDick · 29/03/2022 09:05

No he needs to sit his GCSEs. The courses don't match at all so it would really be a waste of all the work he's done so far - he won't pass them at N5 because the curriculum is so different, he needs to sit his GCSEs.

He'll miss the first three/four weeks of highers which is going to be tricky for him (the highers courses only last a year), so he's going to have to work pretty hard over the summer to catch up. That said, he can choose fewer subjects at higher (most DCs do 4 or 5 but it will be possible for him to do 2 or 3) he can then add in a couple of N5s with a view to taking them at Higher with an advanced higher or two in S6.

You should definitely chat through with the school.

wooliewoo · 29/03/2022 11:12

@graceandmercy

Thank you for the input. Indeed would it be any chance that my DS be admitted to S4? If so he would get time to adapt to new environment, new curriculum and friends.

He absolutely must sit his GCSEs first and then move.
Scottish schools finish late June so he will start new school in mid-august. They do start the Highers courses in June (after the exams) but I wouldn't worry too much about that as there's always a fair amount of movement around classes/subjects in august once the results are out.

He'll go into S5 and sit Highers next year. He won't be able to go into S4 as he's too old.

Children starting S5 in August this year will be turning 16 during 2022 or very beginning 2023 so your son will likely be oldest in year.

wooliewoo · 29/03/2022 12:03

I would also suggest @graceandmercy that you get in touch with the school in advance to let them know what subjects he wishes to study next year. In S5 he can do all Highers, or combination of Highers and Nat5 (if there's subjects he's failed at gcse)

The pupils in the school will currently be making their subject choices for next year and timetables will get made up soon. You don't want to be in a position where there's a subject he really needs or wants but the classes are full. There was a poster on Scotsnet last year who was moving to Edinburgh and son wanted to do 3 sciences at Higher. She had to try several schools before she could find one that could accommodate his choices.

It's not such an issue with popular subjects like English, maths, biology etc where there will be several classes on in the week. But less mainstream subjects like Spanish, graphic communication, business may only have 1 Higher class.

Good luck

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