Scotland Education

[Mothership007]

We are relocating to Scotland from
South Africa. My daughter will finish grade 11 this year . She will be 18 when we arrive . I am so confused where she fits into the education system . Do I take her out of school here at the end of the year so she can start online? And does she go to a college ? I’ve tried getting information but all the advice is so conflicting. No idea who to ask.

When is her birthday, and what qualifications will she have already? When will you arrive in Scotland?

It may be that she will be able to apply to University, depending on her age and existing qualifications, or she may need to think about doing highers/advanced highers, but it will all depend on the exact circumstances.

she will turn 18 in June next year when we arrive. She will have grade 11 that is the equivalent to a GSCE. It seems she will be to old for school and would need to attend a college ?

GCSE is an English qualification. Scotland's system is different.

If she hasn't got her NSC, she needs to get Higher or Advanced Higher qualifications. Higher is enough to get into a Scottish university where courses are generally 4 years long. If she wants to go to an English university she will need Advanced Highers as these are deemed to be closer to A-levels.

As she will turn 18 in June, she will be older than Scottish schools normally have in S6 (the final year of secondary school). I don't know enough about Scottish schools to say if she will be able to get an S6 place at that age or if she will have to look for a college.

ok - then presumably she won't have the matric? If she doesn't, then she will need to do further qualifications if her goal is to go to University. Does she have any idea where she wants to go, and what she wants to study?

This will be key to figuring out what the best plan is.

The regular route in Scotland to University would be to do Highers at age 15-17 and then sometimes Advanced Highers at 16-18, then University - for either 4 years (if just with highers) or 3 with advanced highers in Scotland, or 3 years with advanced highers in England/Wales.

She will be older than the students in Scotland doing these qualifications, and depending on what she ultimately wants to do (Uni in Scotland, or England/Wales? or something/somewhere else?) where you are in Scotland and funds available, it may be better for her to explore doing A levels - which would probably entail a private school, or attending a 6th form or college in England if geographically possible.

Another alternative might be an International Foundation Year, if a relevant University offers it - these are designed to bridge the gap for students who have studied overseas and may not meet the normal qualification criteria because of that - for example

www.leeds.ac.uk/international-foundation-year/doc/ify-entry-requirements

I think she will be liable for international student fees for University.

She would probably need to go to college then could go into university from there. Most pupils finish school at 17/18. She will also be able to drink and go out so college would probably be better for her, socially.

You don’t absolutely need advanced highers for university unless looking at medicine or vet or applying to Oxford/Cambridge.

Best to post on scotsnet board rather than here.

This sounds tricky. If she has finished her education in South Africa she should be eligible to go to uni here in the UK but applications need to be made this autumn.
no idea now it works with students abroad but it must be possible as loads of foreign students enroll at UK universities.

if not then theoretically she could do one or two years at a school in Scotland but I think schools may not be able to admit her if she’s already 18. Best contact the local education authority on that front

if she is 18 and nearly finished her schooling in SA then is leaving her behind with a relative to finish a possibility ? That would make it easier for her to start at a UK uni the following year.

oh a further education college might be a better bet for an 18+ wanting to do highers then onto uni.

You can a group of Highers at Further Education College but only really in Edinburgh and Glasgow and places are very limited. Elsewhere FE colleges tend to offer Access courses which are a blend of core skills and subject knowledge, usually aimed at particular subject area, like Science or Social Sciences. If you pass the Access course you can use it to apply to Uni. One positive is that the FE colleges often have good arrangements with local unis to help college students progress onto uni.
FE colleges also offer other courses that are more specialised, stand alone Qualifications like HNC and HND courses that can also be used for uni entrance, often allowing you to skip the first and second year of uni. My oldest son is doing an HND in Computing atm and if he passes it he will progress to uni for two years to get a BSc degree.
FE colleges in Scotland tend to have a mix of ages from a wider area so the social experience is not as good as High School.
For what is worth there are often a handful of kids who are 18 at the start of S6 or soon after as parents can defer starting School. I think you might be blue to find a school that would take her for at least one year to do Highers.

Thank you for all the information.
With HNC and HND courses what are the entry requirements- would she have needed to have completed her schooling here first ?

It very much depends on the subject/college, there does appear to be more flexibility.

In Scotland a lot of kids will go to college to do a vocational HNC without highers, but a lot of HNC courses will then give access to an HND course, which will in turn give access to 2nd/3rd year of a university degree.

A lot of the further education colleges do offer Highers in some subjects, but I know the one local to me has a very small range of subjects on offer.

As @JudgeRindersMinder says many colleges only offer Highers in core subjects like Maths or English, as it tends to be people filling in a gap in their school qualifications that they need to get on a particular course.
Colleges tend to have small print about qualifications that say it is possible to get on courses with non standard qualificationsand to contact them to discuss individual cases.
We don't have High School Graduation as such, people leave school with all sorts of different levels, FE Colleges are used to helping people get what they need to progress and have students from all different backgrounds. Your DD would not be the only one not to have Scottish Qualifications.