going abroad for 1 year at the start of GCSE?

[fridgealwaysfull]

Hi, my husband has been offered the chance to work in either Singapore or Australia for a year from August 2014-Aug-2014. Problem is our eldest DS will be in yr 10 in Aug 14, ie it's the start of the GCSE 2 year course so it'll mean he'll be in a different education system for a year and then come back halfway through his GCSEs. He's very bright and goes to an excellent state school, private education abroad or here is not an option. Would we be messing up his education if we go? how much of it is course work now? Thanks

You would be messing up his education. Sorry. It would not be possible to miss year 10, doing some completely unrelated syllabus, and then go the complete GCSE syllabus in a year. Controlled Assessments would be a problem, too. If you can't afford private (ie an international school that does iGCSEs or possibly whatever that 14--16 IB programme is called while you're there, followed by an international school ditto for a year when you get back) then your only serious option would be to restart him in the UK when you got back in Y10, which would be difficult and cause a lot of hassle downstream.

Given money, planning, money, money and a certain cavalier disregard, this can be done. But I know three families whose children have been moved around similarly, and most of them are at universities not commensurate with their ability, because their GCSEs and A Levels are a horror show. And that was with good international schools pretty much throughout the process. The ones who managed OK returned to the UK when their kids were 14, and even then ended up having to go private.

Yes you would be messing up his education - how does he feel about it?

There's no way I'd do that to a teenager of that age - why do you all have to go with your husband? A year isn't that long really and you could go out for a fabulous holiday

Thanks for all your advice. That is exactly what I thought but I just needed confirmation really. It's a shame it couldn't happen this year but as soon as DH told me about it I thought...impossible!
Just one thought though....if we did pay for a private school abroad that did the iGCSE, would he be able to carry when we got back in a private school here that did them too? Do most private schools do the iGCSE? We could borrow money for 2 years of private schooling, part of me thinks it would be a great experience to live abroad but certainly not at the expense of his education

Basildon...he doesn't want to move, loves his school, but I'm sure he would be ok if we did go, he loves travelling and I'm sure he'd thrive in a different culture

Sorry, I agree that you would be seriously messing up his education. If it were two years - exactly covering year 10 and 11 - it might be just about OK if you could find a good international school, but a year out at that stage is not good.

Even if you found an international school doing exactly the same igcses with the same exam board as a suitable school back home (quite a long shot in the first place) they are still a two-year course, and different teachers may teach elements in different orders, so there is a strong likelihood of gaps. Basically, anything other than spending those two years in a single school is a very bad idea.

"if we did pay for a private school abroad that did the iGCSE, would he be able to carry when we got back in a private school here that did them too?"

Possibly. You'd need to make very, very sure you had schools with places and commitments lined up, and in any event because the iGCSE is a linear exam it's perfectly possible to teach it in a variety of orders.

It's for this reason that the IB was started, by a cabal of international schools that taught UN staff and with the help of the UN. It defines not just the exams but large parts of the scheme of work, too.

Bright kid, decent schools? It's possible. But I wouldn't do it myself for Y10. And depending on where you live, finding an all-iGCSE school back in the UK that is willing to take someone for Y11 only may be very challenging. Our local private school is almost exclusively iGCSE. But they wouldn't offer you a place for Y11 a year in advance, because they can't predict if anyone's going to leave at the end of Y10 (and they usually won't).

Just to clarify, iGCSE is not a single thing - there are different ones offered by at least two different exam boards (and I think more might be leaping on the bandwagon soon) with the same amount of variation in curriculum details as between standard GCSEs at different exam boards.

Thanks exexpat and friday16, very useful info. Looks like moving for a year won't be a good idea, thanks

Hi I am abroad at the moment with a DS in a private intl school about to go into year 11 and I would not move my child now . If my DH was transferred back to the UK we would stay here untill my DS finishes his GCSE's. Our school like a lot of Intl schools uses a lot of different exam boards depending on the subject so trying to match boards would be a nightmare. I think you would be doing your son a massive dis service if you moved him in year 11. And make it incredibly difficult for him. I think also you have mentioned he dosent want to go so don't under estimate the emotional upheaval of moving . We moved our dc in year 9 and it took him a full term to settle if he was only moving for a year it's really not worth it.. I agree with the other poster who says let DH go by himself and enjoy a fabulous holiday

You also have to bear in mind that the school year arrangements are different. In Australia and Singapore the school year starts and ends in January and not September. If his birthday is in the Autumn term Sept - December here, he will effectively move up a year so will start Y11 in January!

He could do iGCSEs in Singapore, but not Australia. Not that we found anyway.
If you really want to go, have you considered a state boarding school in the UK? Much cheaper option and he would have continuity for the whole two years.
Our DD2 had move schools within the UK at the end of year 10 which was bad enough. All the exam boards were all different and it meant that really she had to do all the courses, except the sciences, in a year. She is a diligent, hard worker and very self motivated, so she was fine, but it was a tough year for her.
I would be very reluctant to move anywhere at this stage in his education, especially as it's only for a year. If you could go until he'd finished school it wouldn't be so much of a problem, except that moving teens can be difficult socially (for some anyway).

fridgealwaysfull have you considered letting your son board with a family in the UK. I have heard of families in similar position to yours doing this. You could check with the school, or your local authority might have a list of suitable families. These families would have been through a strict checking procedure. Just a thought

Thanks for your comments. Boarding is not an option, as much as he winds me up often and at times I wouldn't mind getting rid of him temporarily, we really would like this to be a family experience. It's not looking like it can be done anyway, we can't mess up his education just because we think it would be great to live abroad. DH is now trying to see if we could go for 2 years but it's not looking likely unfortunately. But a more viable option is for DH to go for 6 months and we would spend our holiday time there. Also , hadn't thought about the academic year starting in January too

Is it the cost of private British ed the issue ? I fell over at the cost of International schools. But there are far cheaper options these days thanks to the power of the internet and technology. Costing from a bit over a couple of grand per year. But you would have to be prepared to work around time zone issues.

The trouble is with GCSEs going linear , different schools might well follow the syllabusus in different orders.

It likely she wouldn't get the same gcse results as she would if you stayed. But IMO you are raising a child and not just an academic achievement. She would benefit from living abroad in so many ways. Ifs she's bright she'll still do well then she can get good a levels before university. I don't even remember my gcse grades now.

"Ifs she's bright she'll still do well then she can get good a levels before university."

Getting a place at a decent university is virtually impossible with poor GCSEs. It's possible, just, that you might be able to do what used to be called seventh term entry and apply with your completed A Levels in your hand (ie, apply during a gap year). But the A Levels would have to be absolutely stellar to overcome poor GCSEs.

I came overseas with DCs going into Y10 and Y12 respectively. DH had already been here for a year. We waited a year before following him because we couldn't move the older DC at the starting-Y11 point, for all the reasons everyone else upthread has said. The GCSE course and A level course are in two year chunks. Cannot really divide them what with different boards and different orders of teaching the syllabus.

In the year while we were in the UK but DH was overseas we had some lovely holidays with him. We felt we were getting some of his experience in a condensed form. If your DH does 6 months and you have a holiday there, then that might give you something of the experience you are after.

Guys i have a question I've missed year 10 and half of year 11 abroad and I'm planning on going back to the UK next month or so and doing 5 GCSE'S do you think that could be possible?

NB TO READERS - OLD THREAD REBOOTED BY NEW POSTER

Legit You would be better off starting your own thread.

I would say highly unlikely unless you are a) very clever and b) have been following a syllabus with a big overlap with the English one.

In your current school have you done 'school leaving exams' equivalent? What are your ambitions for 6th form? Are you wanting to do academic A levels or something more vocational?

You can do 3 years in 6th form, but they will only enable 'retakes' of selective GCSEs (Maths, English Language and maybe one other if you are lucky).

To be honest this is a really bad time to be moving. You'll need to negotiate with schools in the area you are moving to as to what they can accommodate.