Post 16 education

[Nonamesavail]

Hi. I hope this is OK. No ide where to ask this!

My son is 16. Just left secondary school in Englang. He wS 16 in August and at sixth form. If we moved over the border, what would be the equivalent for his age?

Help!

Normally a boy of his age would be in 5th year in high school and would sit exams next April / May - Highers or Nat 5.

Does he have any GCSEs?

Yes he had his gcse results this year so am getting very confused where he would be!

S5, sitting Highers (and/or more National 5s - which are the equivalent of GCSEs) in April/May next year.

And if he wants to do S6, he can sit more Nat 5s/Highers/Advanced Highers, depending on his level of ability.

He'll go from being the absolute youngest in the year to being in the middle of the year, age group wise, with some kids up to 9 or 10 months older than him, and others up to 7 months younger.

Oo guess that could be better? Thank you! He is at sixth form and I cant find that equivalent anywhere near the area!

It’s not long until the higher prelims ( mocks ) if you are going to move house you need to hurry up.

@Nonamesavail

Oo guess that could be better? Thank you! He is at sixth form and I cant find that equivalent anywhere near the area!

That’s because we don’t have 6th form colleges in Scotland.

We don't have 6th form colleges. Amidst every single secondary school goes all the way through to S6.

Although n option is to go to a College of Further Education for vocational qualifications.

You can also go to Uni after S5. It's less common now though.

Amidst = almost

Oh jeez this is confusing!

I guess that its going to be pretty hard for him to completely change his studies.

He doesn't need to completely change his subjects although he might have a bit of catching up to do to make up for the different curriculum.

Think of Highers as AS levels.

But the flexibility of the Scottish "all through" schools is that it is perfectly normal to sit/re-sit Nat 5s alongside Highers if, say, he hasn't done well in some of his GCSEs but has done ok in others and wants to progress them.

It is also possible to "crash" a Higher in a single year: Modern Studies is one popular subject, but Biology (and Chemistry?) is another, as some schools don't allow their young people to sit all 3 sciences in a single year.

Ds crashed Higher Modern Studies in S6 - alongside Advanced Higher Maths and Advanced Higher Physics and is now studying Politics and International Relations at Aberdeen Uni.

Does your ds have any idea of what he wants to do after school?

Don’t worry, it’s the structure and names that are different. It’s not that A level French is a totally different subject from Higher French.

Does your Ds know what he wants to do after school ? What subjects would he have studied at 6th form college ?

You put it so much more succinctly than me ALLISON