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Welcome to Scotsnet - discuss all aspects of life in Scotland, including relocating, schools and local areas.

Original poster

Moving from the English to Scottish system - timing

26 replies

Namechangenora52 · 26/09/2022 14:30

Hi,
It's been an unforseen move but we are having to move from the English system to the Scottish system. The two little dc will be fine but my eldest is 16. We had a bit of a forced move a few years ago from Scotland to the English system with my Husbands work and now another move is on the cards. Ds16 never adapted to the English school and has been miserably homesick begging to return to Scotland. Obviously all his mates have now sat their Nat5's and he is still ploughing through gcse course work. I know if we could nurse him through till May that would be best academically but I'm increasingly worried about how sad and withdrawn he is here. It looks like my Husbands contact is ending soon anyway and if ds really can't manage the whole year is he better pulling the plug now and doing d5 from scratch. Would he even be allowed to sit highers??
Or if we could get his mocks out of the way at Christmas and move back over the break?
I'm just trying to mitigate the mess of a move in this one crucial year will cause.
Does anyone have any experience of a move at 16??
Thanks

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 26/09/2022 15:00

When is his birthday?
I wonder if you could see if he could go into S4 and study for Nat5s rather than going into S5 and doing highers without having sat any Nat5/GCSE subjects

Original poster
Namechangenora52 · 26/09/2022 15:44

Ooh good idea. He's July 29th 2006. I'm getting so muddled between the two systems now. I'll ask the school. We are going back to the same one that we left, fingers crossed

OP posts:
BillHadersLeftEye · 26/09/2022 16:01

July puts you midway into Scottish year so he'd be at older end of the year below not younger end of English year group? So S4 anyway.

Original poster
Namechangenora52 · 26/09/2022 16:15

So he could potentially join at Christmas, sit his Nat 5 exams in the spring as normal? That would be a godsend. Thanks guys

OP posts:
DontTouchThat · 26/09/2022 16:18

You can do N5 in 5th year too. My ds (16) didn’t manage N5 in 4th year so is doing them now in 5th year.

CasaDelSoot · 26/09/2022 17:38

Namechangenora52 · 26/09/2022 16:15

So he could potentially join at Christmas, sit his Nat 5 exams in the spring as normal? That would be a godsend. Thanks guys

He couldn't join at Christmas and sit Nat 5 a few months later. The course is not the same as GCSE, particularly English and the topic driven subjects like history, modern studies etc.
He would need to complete the whole Nat 5 course which starts in June each year. Plenty of pupils do Nat 5s in S5 though, particularly in their weaker subjects so he could do that and the Highers in S6

MistressIggi · 26/09/2022 17:44

If he was here right now he'd be in S5, with a 2006 birthday.
Is he on course to do well in his GCSEs? Moving just now seems so complicated for him.

saturdaymorningbored · 26/09/2022 17:57

I think it might depend on when the school do their prelims. My DC's always do theirs after Christmas whereas the school my nephew goes to do theirs before Christmas.
His age would make him s5 now but you can do Nat5's in S5.
Im sorry he's feeling so down, hopefully the move will happen quickly

Original poster
Namechangenora52 · 26/09/2022 19:31

Thanks guys, he's on track to do OK in his gcse's. The school tell me he is underachieving based on previous grades and cat 4 tests etc but still OK. He took triple science and finds it very stressful and dry. He's just so sad here, poor kid has really tried but it's affecting sleep and mood, he's started seeing a counsellor and becoming increasingly disengaged and despondent.... But if moving him now means he has to do an extra year of school then he won't be with his friends anyway . He wants to go to university. Argh. It's such a mess. Could he get enough highers in just s6 for uni? I will speak to the Scottish school about slotting into s4 and let him have a read through all the kind responses here. He is such a lovely lad, I hate to see him so sad.

OP posts:
Original poster
Namechangenora52 · 26/09/2022 19:33

I feel wretched for moving him to follow his dad's job. The relocation happened during covid and we thought we'd better all stick together or risk being separated in lock downs.

OP posts:
thesparklingdiamond · 26/09/2022 19:36

I agree with some of the posters - his age would put him into S5 now not S4. But his birthday puts him in the cohort to sit GCSEs in summer 22 - so should be starting A levels now. Is he repeating his GCSEs?

You need to speak to the school now about the options. Whether it's too late to move him now into S5 to do his Nat 5's in April/ May '23. Or if its best to let him finish this year with his GCSE retakes and then move into S6 for Highers. I think the school will be best placed to give advice on this as its not straight forward.

CasaDelSoot · 26/09/2022 20:07

yes @Namechangenora52 it is possible to get enough highers in S6 to go to university. But if he doesn't then there's another very popular route in Scotland which is to go to college for 1 year to do an HNC (need 1 or 2 highers) and then onto university. It does depend on the subject he wants to study though.

Best bet would be for your son to complete his GCSEs in England if he can bear that. And then start S5 in August 2023. But if he has to move sooner he will do Nat 5 s in S5 and highers S6. It should be perfectly doable so try not to panic. As others have said you should contact the school now and talk it all through with them.

Bratnews · 26/09/2022 20:42

Could he make it a bit easier and drop the number of GCSEs as they tend to do more in England than nat 5s in Scotland - focus on good grades in a smaller set including ones he’d like to take at higher.?

Original poster
Namechangenora52 · 27/09/2022 01:09

Bratnews that's good advice. I'll speak to his current year head about it. I think one of the big issues is that culture shift from a nice, laid back high school in a mixed catchment area to a very academic school.. It is very exam focused to the detriment of all else.
I get confused about the year boundaries but all my kids are now quite old for their years in the English system where they were pretty standard in Scotland. Ds hasn't repeated any years but he is quite old in his cohort. His mates all got their exams as planned and now just moving into highers. I have to say having done both systems now. I'm firmly of the opinion that the Scots have it right. The two year gcse is gruelling.
The school here have enrolled him in a couple of extra classes where they feel he could do better and needs intervention to get his predicted grades (he's getting 6/7 type grades but told to aim for 7/8/9) but he gets so depressed and had to quit his extra curricular fun clubs to attend them, he has made no friends in a year and a half and all his teachers comment on how isolated and introverted he is. Its5just not the Ds I recognise. He's always been a bit of a coaster and fairly quiet/ polite but made and maintained friendships well, enjoys a debate in history /modern studies etc.
Thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate it.

OP posts:
MistressIggi · 27/09/2022 13:48

In terms of going to a Scottish uni, how long would he have to live here for - is it three years? (Not to to - I mean to have tuition free!) So might be worth planning with that in mind. You could look at N5 papers on line and see how far removed they are from his coursework for GCSE.
If he comes back with GCSEs, he would go into S5 for Highers and his friends would be in S6 - but those classes would mostly be joint S5 6 anyway (though they would have already sat things like English and maths I suspect)

PatriciaHolm · 27/09/2022 13:59

Ds hasn't repeated any years but he is quite old in his cohort.

If he was born on July 29, 2006, as above then in the English system he would be one of the youngest if he was in the correct year, as our year runs Sept 1- Aug 31. A child born in July would be amongst the youngest.

If that birthday is correct, and he is already 16 but hasn't sat GCSEs in England yet, then he is in the "wrong" year here - he should be Year 12 now, not Year 11.

It's possible that when you moved the school decided given the change in system and his age, he should be in the year below, but you would surely realise that! That would fit with him being a July baby but one of the oldest though.

Original poster
Namechangenora52 · 27/09/2022 14:08

MistressIggi · 27/09/2022 13:48

In terms of going to a Scottish uni, how long would he have to live here for - is it three years? (Not to to - I mean to have tuition free!) So might be worth planning with that in mind. You could look at N5 papers on line and see how far removed they are from his coursework for GCSE.
If he comes back with GCSEs, he would go into S5 for Highers and his friends would be in S6 - but those classes would mostly be joint S5 6 anyway (though they would have already sat things like English and maths I suspect)

Hearing that really cheered him up. We've been in Scotland his whole life except for this one trip abroad as his dad's work moved unavoidably. I've been told as long as we're ordinarily resident we should be OK. Finger's crossed obviously.

OP posts:
thesparklingdiamond · 27/09/2022 14:14

PatriciaHolm - I'm guessing that if the OP moved 1 1/2 years ago, the correct cohort in England was too far through the first year of GCSEs for him to join. So it probably made sense given he was one of the youngest to join the year below and do the full GCSE courses. But he effectively repeated the S3 year again.

It wouldn't matter if they were staying in England, the difficulty is that they are moving back to Scotland.
OP - you really need to speak to the school in Scotland to find out the options as its complicated as he's out of step with his cohort.

Amortentia · 27/09/2022 14:21

It doesn’t really matter what year your ds goes into as you can do Nat 5 and then Highers from 4-6 year. You just need to make sure he’s got at least two years to complete them.

EvelynBeatrice · 02/10/2022 21:47

University entry in Scotland is very competitive now for many courses. If he wants to do anything like medicine , vet science, pharmacology, law , accountancy then I'd have thought he might need 3 good Advanced Highers which most academe kids do in 6th year. Might be prudent to look at entry requirements in case you're looking at another year of school. I'd have thought the jump from GCSE to AH would be too big.

Original poster
Namechangenora52 · 03/10/2022 10:58

Thanks Evelyn,
I'm showing my age but AH is basically csys, right?
It's all looking a bit bleak to be honest....

OP posts:
readsalotgirl63 · 03/10/2022 11:18

Yes AH is basically CSYS

containsnuts · 03/10/2022 11:37

I'd talk to the colleges. Some offer alternative courses at the same academic level as gsce's, some offer the choice of gcse's rather than nat5s. Some college courses start in January rather than August which might simplify things.

Original poster
Namechangenora52 · 03/10/2022 13:07

Thank you all. I didn't know that contains its - Thanks!

OP posts:
EvelynBeatrice · 03/10/2022 14:20

AH replaced sixth year studies and by all accounts is much more demanding- pitched at first year Uni standard for many subjects. English unis give more UCCAS points to Scottish Advanced Highers than A levels.
If private is an option there are Scottish schools that go the English route or even International Bac.