Transition from English Curriculum to Scottish Curriculum back to English - Is this doable?

[Jpickin]

My son is currently in Year 8 English Curriculum; we are planning to move to Scottish Curriculum S3 this summer 2025 (I am thinking of him starting June 2025 because I hear some Scottish schools start teaching the S3 Curriculum from the beginning of June before they actual start S3 in August 2025).
Now my question - If he does S3 and S4 and National 5 exams in the Scottish Curriculum, Can I move him back to the English Curriculum in Year 12 for A Levels? What are the potential issues with this? Will there be any academic gaps?

Reason -

1. The reason for going to Scotland now is because i am relocating back to Scotland and would prefer not to put him in a boarding school at this age. I would like him to mature more.
2. The reason for the option to move him back to English Curriculum in Year 12 is because he would like to have the boarding school experience (His senior sister currently is in boarding school in England and she is doing well and loving it!). Second reason is the University he would like to apply to is in England which is highly competitive and there are certain independent school that have the experience of supporting students through that process and English Curriculum could be advantageous. The third reason is our preference would be to go for a diverse independent boarding school if we decide he will be going to an English Curriculum boarding school at Year 12. I have searched and Searched but cant seem to find a diverse independent school in Scotland with a Scottish Curriculum, any ideas - maybe there are a few out there that i have missed?

My Question - If he does S3 and S4 and National 5 exams in the Scottish Curriculum, Can I move him back to the English Curriculum in Year 12 for A Levels? What are the potential issues with this? Will there be any academic gaps?

A lot will depend on which a levels he wants to do.

so for example there are quite a few a levels that in the English system are not normally studied at gcse.

economics, psychology, sociology, etc.

if he wants to do any of those then the English system assumes no prior knowledge.

languages, maths, science etc I don’t know the Scottish system so cannot comment but these a levels will assume a certain level of prior knowledge and skills.

He wants to study Law or something to do with Finance
so his S3 options are English, Maths, Physics, Chemistry, French, Economics, Music, History
So for less disruption, i guess he could do English Literature, Economics and Maybe History
Because he is yet to decide between Law OR Finance, he wants to also take Maths has a 4th A Level option but not sure if that would be a smooth transition

Are you aware that Scottish secondary is only 6 years versus English 7 years? So if you move him from Year 8 into S3 and then from S4 into Year 12, he will have missed out on a year of education. History and Economics should be fine in terms of curriculum covered (although he would still be short-changed a year of maturity) but Maths could be quite tough.

Going from S6 at a Scottish school into a competitive English University in subjects which build on A levels is tough (Scottish Universities are 4 years instead of 3, reflecting the shorter time at secondary) and this seems similar - although the mismatch is obviously at the point of starting A levels rather than degree.

He'll also potentially be quite young to start Uni.

Do you have any other options?

I would look at:

• delaying your move back to Scotland for 3 years, to let him get his gcses first
• finding a Scottish school which offers the English curriculum, but I'm not sure whether any day schools do
• starting boarding at an English school earlier

Can he do a year in Scotland then board for GCSEs and A Levels? That would be more straightforward

@AelinAG Do you mean do S3 then move to English Curriculum to start Year 10? If so am concern for potential of possible gaps? Sounds like a good option but not quite sure of the possible gaps and how he will compare with his counterparts that moved up from Yr 9 to Y10 in same curriculum

@nordicwannabe Thanks. The options i can see now (hoping more or better options will surface) is

1. Leave him in his current school to finish GCSEs while i relocate to Scotland possibly temporary for a year, could be longer but that will mean he is alone on his own during the day with no supervision and support till dad gets back from work.
2. He relocates with me and completes his Nat 5 (S3 & S4) and if he moves back to English Curriculum, he chooses subjects that will require no prior knowledge because new topics are taught in A Levels e.g. English Literature, History and Economics or Politics
3. Cant think of other options ???

Where in Scotland are you looking and what do you mean by diverse? Several Edinburgh schools inc. Fettes and Merchiston do the English curriculum and have day pupils too.

@BoldHedgehog Will be based in Aberdeen. Going to Fettes now will mean he has to board now which am trying to avoid and delay boarding to 6th Form when he is more matured

The curriculums do no neatly match up. There will be content gaps and differences between the two systems, making transition after S4 challenging for some subjects.

Economics is not a widely taught subject in Scotland. There's a thread on scotsnet about this just now. Politics is also not routinely taught as. Subject at nat5 in Scotland, most schools offer 'Modern Studies' which is similar but more like social policy than political theory based, and it can be fairly focussed on devolution and the Scottish context of issues depending on the units taught.

I wouldn't like to be the child having to learn an new education system twice, each time before a set of major exams. Whilst also making friends and adjusting to life in a new country.

Maybe have a look at the International School in Aberdeen? It’s neither a Scottish or English curriculum but I believe they have at least some gcse or gcse aligned courses.

If the commute would be doable from where you'd be living, St Leonard's in St Andrews does GCSEs at that stage. I have heard better things about it than the international school in Aberdeen which has optional iGCSEs, but the commute may rule it out! (Though I'd personally rather do the Scottish curriculum at RGC in Aberdeen than go to the international school there. He could then transition to the IB at a boarding school for sixth form.)

IB at boarding school for sixth form is an interesting idea - but how about moving to Y12 after doing highers in S5 instead of after S4?

That would actually keep him in the right year group for England, and the breadth you keep in S5 for Highers seems like a good fit for IB (although I have no idea how close the curriculums are)

Leaving him in England with his Dad isn't a terrible option. Would his Dad be staying in England anyway? I can imagine it would be a wrench for you - but he'd still be with a parent and you could go back to England at weekends.

Being alone for a few hours each day after school doesn't seem like a deal-breaker. You'd be working in Scotland too, so not very different. Presumably you wouldn't be WFH a significant amount of the time - otherwise you could stay in England and travel up for your days on site.

Have you looked at Robert Gordons College in Aberdeen.

We live in Scotland and our DS did GSCE at private school and then moved to do highers at another. The only subject he found slightly challenging was higher physics as he had done combined science at GSCE. He much preferred higher English to GCSE English.
My DD did the IB and found it rigorous, challenging and very broad. She disliked GCSE maths but really enjoyed IB maths. Most of her year got into RG universities. Both Fettes and St Leonards offer the course and both get an influx of Year 12 boarders to start the course. Strathallan does A levels also has boarders starting in Year 12 and it’s not too far from Aberdeen.
I would also look at Robert Gordon’s and Albyn schools, they may had a more international catchment than the local schools.

I think a lot of the private schools and some of the state schools in Aberdeen will be used to similar situations. I’m not sure Gordons/Albyn would be that much more international than say the Grammar School.

You could also consider Lathallan, depending on where you choose to live there are buses.

I know you don’t want him to Board yet, but could flexy boarding be an option for him to stay in England?

I think the truth is that it's really, really quite hard to move with kids in their teenage years (even schools within one country, let alone to a whole new system), and that for that reason many people try super hard to avoid doing it. Whatever you do will probably mean a significant compromise somewhere, either for you or for your DS.

Also this might sound patronising and I absolutely don’t mean it to be but make sure you have worked out his year group correctly: I’ve seen it on here where people have miscalculated the year their child will be in.