Tertiary education admissions and International Schools..what happens?

[timetosmile]

If DH and I were to take our DCs 5-11yrs abroad to reasonably rural Africa for the next 5-10 years, the most likely secondary schooling option would be an international school - well respected, right on the doorstep - but mainly using an American curriculum rather than IGCSEs or IB.

If looking a long way into an uncertain future DCs wanted to come back to the UK for tertiary education, would that be possible in terms of UCAS whoever it is now application?

And, if we maintained a home in the UK, would we count as 'home' i.e. UK applicants for e.g.fees?

Or would it be better to bring them back to the UK e.g.boarding, for sixth form at 16+ for A levels, or transfer at that stage to a different (boarding) international school which did IB?

Our 11 year old would rather not board from 11/12yrs, and DH has visited the American syllabus school and thinks its fantastic both in terms of amenities and ethos (it felt international rather than an outpost of the USA iyswim), so I think that would be our first choice if it didn't neccessarily mean a real headache for our children at 16 or 18+

Are there any sixth form/uni admissions MNers, or others with any experience?

Thanks

No problem with IB being suitable in most cases (there maybe the odd subject specific case where a levels are preferred). In terms of fee status your dc would need to be resident in uk or Europe for three years prior to starting their course to qualify for home fees. You maintaining a home here doesn't qualify I'm afraid. Home fees are pretty similar now though to overseas fees..... And yes it it still UCAS!!!

Oh sorry not IB.... Don't know about US quals - for most universities I'd say fine, but one or two might be fussier. Main thing would be to get the level right - don't Americans do longer degrees cos they generally don't have the subject depth?

home fees are still considerably less than UK fees, even at £9k pa, and you won't be eligible for UK student loans, so do think carefully. You do need to be resident for 3 years in UK (or eu) unfortunately.

Thanks for your help..tbh the fees thing seems a world away at the moment and I suspect may have all changed in the next seven years!

The main query is whether an Americal system qualification at 16 or 18 would be worth anything in the UK?

thanks

I believe the US system is fine for UK uni admissions, although you might find it helpful to have a look at various uni websites / contact admissions tutors to see what they say about it.

However, the problem that you are likely to run into is fees and a lack of loans.

Because your DC won't have been resident in the UK for three years prior to entering higher ed for purposes other than education (i.e. boarding school doesn't count, otherwise you'd have all the Chinese kids in UK boarding schools being supported by HM Government), and maintaining a home won't count, you will find that
a) You have to pay international tuition fees - currently starting from around £14000pa IIRC.
b) There won't be any student loans / grants, either for fees or living costs.

You may very well find that it becomes cheaper (with scholarships / bursaries, which can be exceedingly generous) to send them to US universities.

bump for the afterschoolers?

I am pretty sure the American qualifications are fine for entry through UCAS. Have a look at The Student Room forum and you'll find loads of info eg on this thread

www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1376912&highlight=AP

Lots of talk about the APs, the ACTs and SATS I and II that they (the US based students) have to get (means nothing to me btw).

As to the home status that means lesser fees, well we managed it even though we were away for 10 years immediately prior to my boys starting university. Like you we could not foresee what the rules would be but we did our best to second guess them. I think the crucial one is that you have to be ordinarily resident for the prior 3 years but that you are deemed temporarily absent if it is for an overseas assignment or posting related to work. My husband's employer was happy to certify that his overseas work was temporary and that he would be returning to the UK after it.

In addition, we kept a house with all the bills etc (especially council tax) being paid. We visited for 2 of the 3 holidays. We kept evidence of all the above and were asked to provide it. But it was all straightforward once we filled out the fees status questionnaire and we got home status for both boys.

Oh, and we never took up any sort of visa anywhere else other than a working visa with family as dependents.

The course I did admissions for required AAA at a-level and would not accept the standard US quals as being equvalent to this. US students (or OS students at US schools) had to have the additional AP (advanced placement) qualifications to be considered for a place.

I advice that you:

1. find out exactly what US quals the school offers
2. make an educated guess as to what courses your eldest might be interested in and email the to ask what their requirements are for applicants with US quals. This will give you a very rough idea of whether there is likely to be a problem.