Pls explain the UK (high) school system to a foreigner

[EminSydney]

Hi there from Oz
DH's looking at an opportunity to move to his company's London office so I am researching about the school system for our 2 boys. Older one is 14 years (Oz high school year 8) and the younger is 12 years (year 6 in Oz primary).

So far it has been a bit brain-boggling. We are looking mainly at state schools, and I have come to understand there are selective state schools after children sit for the 11+ exams.
My kids both sat for selective school entry exams here in Oz as well, but whether or not they can get into a UK selective school is a different question. I'm just going to start by looking for a good school.

I need some help to get a better understanding how to look for a good school.

(((If there are mums who have gone through moving to the UK with high school kids, please share how you navigated through putting them into the state system)))

1. I saw this on a post but couldnt understand how to read it.

2022 GCSE results of current school:
99% 9-4 (A-C), 71% 9-7(A-A), 43% 9-8 (A*).

What does 9-4 (A-C) mean??

2. I know the UK school year starts in September. Which year would my son go to if he is 15 years old in Sept 2024? Are the years which they would study determined solely by age?
   In Oz, parents have a choice to send their kids to Kinder when they turn 5 or turning 5. So there are children who are a year younger than others in the same school year. Mine both attended Kinder after they've turned 5 which makes them older than some of their peers in the same class.
   So when they go into a UK school, they might actually have to skip a year if entry is according to age? Not sure how it would impact them academically as the 2 curriculums could be very different...

3. Does a local state school have to take them in if we live in the area no matter when and what? (this applies to where we currently are in Australia)
   Is it possible to start any time during the year at all?

Thanks for your time reading this!

Sorry if I wasn't clear. My DS will have turned 15 by Sept 2024. His bday is in April.

Lots of posters have kindly advised about starting at year 10 or year 12 in the English education system. Some also said some schools start prepping at year 9 even...?
We have to look into that.

I'm wondering if the best people to talk to would be directly with the school admissions or LA admissions people about these things?

We have only just started thinking about the move, and trying to find out as much as possible to decide even to move at all. So nothing concrete about relocation package yet. We don't want to talk to management unless we are sure we want to move.
Of course if a package is offered, we'd love to talk to a relocation education specialist. But now we are just finding things out.

Thank you for the above info!
So how many opportunities are there for kids to get into selective schools other than the 11+ exam?
(I'm assuming the grammar schools mentioned= selective state schools)

In Oz, kids take a selective test in year 5 for a place in year 7. Then those who didn't make it or want to move to a higher ranked school can take another test at year 7 for year 8, and again for year 11 entry.

Grammar schools are state selective schools. The main entry point is 11+. In theory, you could enter one of these schools at any point, but there won't normally be another official intake, and competition for any occasional places will be very fierce. Private selective schools are more likely to have occasional places (at least the not quite top of the pile ones), and some will have an official Year 10 intake. You may also find it easier to persuade a private school to take an April-born 15 year old into Year 10, though you could also sound out the local authority for state schools (if you know which authority you'd be moving to). If you wait until sixth form, you'd have lots more options, both selective and non selective, private and state.

The usual points of entry are year 7 and year 12.

Year 7 entry is based on the 11 plus taken at the beginning of year 6. There was also a late test in the March but for the waiting list, not the main round of allocations. DS's grammar does say something about in-year entry in the admissions guide but I don't think it is common. There's something about matching the academic standard of the cohort and from there they would only be admitted if there were places. I don't know how this is assessed or if a student currently one and a half years below their cohort would be at a disadvantage. Is the younger boy in a state opportunity class or academic private school?

Year 12 entry is based on GCSE or equivalent grades.

If you did relocate, how long would it be for?

Ah so he would be year 11 in September 2024. A really tricky time to start as midway through gcse courses for exams to be sat the following May/June.

April would (just) be considered a 'summer born' so year 10 could be an option depending on the school. I'd find a good comprehensive and look at grammar for sixth form. I wouldn't see the younger child jumping from halfway through year 7 to the start of year 9 (and possibly GCSEs) at a grammar as an option.

Hi OP

AFAIK there are no state grammar schools in Surrey or Hampshire so the only option for selective schools is private school.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_grammar_schools_in_England

The geographic area the 0P is considering - around Aldershot - doesn't have any grammar schools. It does have lots of good 6th form colleges but if the OP waited for her ds to be old enough for 6th form then he wouldn't have lived in the U.K. long enough to be classed as a home student for university so would be charged international fees.

Personally if I was the OP I would continue to live near Sydney and move to Europe when the youngest ds goes to uni.

Private schools cost of the order of £20,000 per year per child. Is that a possibility for you?

If he took a gap year after 6th form would that work?

I don't know but I suspect he would have to spend the year in the U.K., he would need indefinite leave to remain and 3 full years of living in the U.K.

I would speak to the LA and see what they advise.

In year 11, they do mock GCSEs either immediately before or after Christmas so your son would be taking exams on a load of topics he may know nothing about pretty much just after joining the school.

Or if you know the school he's likely to be going to and he's bright, could you do online tutoring the year before/over the summer so he can catch up to an extent? The issue is that all schools choose which exam boards to do and all the exams are slightly different. Annoyingly too, they can pick and choose between boards in different subjects - they do 4 different boards at my kids' school!

If you can afford it, private may be a better option as you can control it a lot more.

Hi there from Oz
DH's looking at an opportunity to move to his company's London office

Will the company provide or subsidise housing?

If not, I strongly recommend you look at house prices and decide if you can ever nafford to live within reach of thr |London office.

In our case it’s because school only goes to 16 and if you want to continue in education you have no choice but to to go to college. I think private schools generally go to 18 but quite a lot of private school kids also go to the local college for A levels .

Colleges tend to be pretty big (1500-2000 students) so they offer a very wide variety of subjects. They also have much better facilities than any state school I’ve seen as I think they are funded differently.

Colleges tend to be pretty big (1500-2000 students) so they offer a very wide variety of subjects. They also have much better facilities than any state school I’ve seen as I think they are funded differently.

This is true. I've worked in two different colleges that had part of an airline cabin for students who want to be cabin crew.

You can often get services from colleges like hairdressing, car maintenance and valeting, flower arrangements. I even met a baby crocodile at one.

It sounds like you have lots of good advice. Just to jump in to say that Alton is great. If you have any questions about the area please feel free to pm me.

So when you say colleges (in England), are they like vocational schools?
Am a bit confused as some posts mentioned 6th form in colleges.
Don't kids go to 6th form to do A levels for uni entrance??

The online tutoring sounds like a good option if we go down that route.
When do they do the actual GCSEs?

So to be considered as home student, one would need to have lived in the UK for at least 3 years?
Or would different unis have different policies? We might need to look into that too!

What other years do they conduct entry exams for grammars?
I've only known of the 11+.

A previous poster said the area you were planning on moving to did not have grammars anyway?

The main points of entry are year 7 by the 11 plus exam and then year 12 by GCSE results. There was some mention of entry into other years for DS's grammar but would only be if there was a space and I don't know how this is assessed. Though, your younger child would be jumping from halfway through year 7 to the start of year 9, very few children in this position would be working at the level to enter a grammar at this point.

Colleges can be either

• sixth form colleges which are in some areas only. These are generally, good, academic and specialised for Y12 and 13 to prepare for A level and university entry but not all areas. Many areas only have school sixth form
• vocational or community colleges for post 16 vocational training

Our local College does both traditional A level courses and vocational courses (currently BTech but presumably that will change to T Level). The bigger numbers mean that they can offer more courses than a traditional school sixth form... they don't have problems with courses like Physics or Music being cancelled for being undersubscribed for example. Its only been open a few years but already has send double figures to Oxford/Cambridge do its definitely as academically vigorous as school until 18. (Our local school stops at 16)

The actual GCSEs are taken at the end of Year 11 (the exams are spread through May/June).