Would applying to university without GCSEs be an issue after studying abroad?

[Fluorescentdaffodil]

I’m from the uk and me and family have moved abroad. We have put dc in a school that does the international baccalaureate. They don’t sit any exams at 16 but do the final diploma once they reach 18 ie the equivalent to our a levels. My plan is to return dc to the uk to sit a levels in year 12/13 so they will not sit their IB but sit a levels instead.

They would probably have to apply to uni as a foreign student as they wouldn’t have lived in the uk at that point for long enough.

if they sit their a levels but have no GCSE’s will this be a big deal in their university applications?

Try this: https://www.gov.uk/check-student-finance-eligibility-nationality-residency

Thanks @Ceramiq unfortunately that site doesn’t seem to cover our situation.
We are not in an overseas U.K. territory and the whole family unlike using dc are only British nationals (English) so still none the wiser

. I imagine I’ll have to cross that bridge when dc has to potentially apply for student finance. I imagine quite a few people fall into our situation so it’s a shame they couldn’t have included information relating to it in the site you sent. It looks like it depends on the university too.

I'd be more concerned that they wouldn't be accepted onto A-level courses without any gcse's or equivalent. The college I went to years ago was competitive and specified quite high grades, it's far far more difficult to get in now. A uni would be more likely to accept international qualifications, but I imagine if you haven't been residing in the uk for sometime you may have to pay international fees 🤑. Your best bet is to ask the college you want your children to go to what they accept and look into the uni fees and whether they qualify as a uk student.

My DGD did her degree and Masters at a British university despite the fact that she only had Spanish qualifications. Dad is British and she has a British passport. She was eligible for all the loans even though she hadn’t lived in the UK since she was 8 months old. They did make her do the extra foundation year. In retrospect, this was a really good thing as it was a biochemistry degree and they did very little lab work in Spain.

In case, not clear, she only paid the fees a uk student would. She is now working in the UK.

It does depend on the university, sometimes.

Not the original question but you almost certainly won't get Student Finance. It's likely you'll get home fee status at at least some universities (but it might restrict your DC's options), although it depends a lot on the exact details. If you don't get home fee status you won't get Student Finance. Home fee status is the bigger deal - that's reducing costs from GBP30k+ a year to 9k a year.

On your original question - what's the reason for sticking with IB if your intention is A-levels? The MYP isn't desperately well thought of as a program. It can be great but it's very school dependent and you come into problems like this. If you're thinking of changing to British (English but it always seems to be called British internationally!) for sixth form, why not change for GCSEs as well. That way your DC has done the courses that actually lead up to the A-level course and you don't need to worry about whether they'll need to do something additional to demonstrate English language ability.

And if you're planning to move home for sixth form, why not bring the move forwards two years so that you start GCSEs in the UK too. I know that will likely have cost implications but it will guarantee home fees and student finance which may well balance out the cost implications of the earlier move.

It used to be the case that EU residents qualified for home fees and student finance. One of the things that has ended with Brexit (I think this year is the last year of the transition).

If they are a STEM-y child, and do maths Alevel, thst should override the GCSE maths requirement - although equally should be fairly straight forward.
The tougher one will be a GCSE in English - probably only need language, and can skip literature.

Check with the school as to whether they’ll let them do A levels without GCSEs. If science / maths A levels would still need English language GCSE. Most universities won’t mind as long as have a transcript.

An alternative plan could be to find a college that offers a 1 year GCSE program (my son’s 6th form college did this). The advantage is that then you get the fees at home student rates as they have 3 years before starting uni.

If your dc did 2 years at college then a gap year that would meet the 3 year residency requirement. Sixth form colleges can be very flexible, eg taking kids who have been home schooled and have few GCSEs.