Finish High School in Scotland from the USA

[aidenmartine]

My daughter is a second year New York high school student who is keen on following her brother's footsteps. My son is about to graduate from the University St. Andrews and it's been a life changing 4 years for him. I'm exploring the possibilities of my daughter finishing her secondary education in the UK and applying for college thereafter.

Martine may, or may not be able to live with my son who might be staying in Edinburgh after university. How easy is it to set up a foreign student secondary education in Scotland? Can anyone tell me if you'll need to pay tuition for secondary education if you're not a citizen? Besides a student visa, how would one go about registering for high school in Edinburgh and does it matter if it's for a private or a city sponsored school?

If anyone can point me in the right direction I'd be greatly appreciative...

Cheers,

Jeff

Hi Jeff, like you I live in the US. I have a DD the same age as you too. It is not clear from your OP as to why you want your daughter to finish up her education in the UK. If she wants to attend St. Andrew's then it is relatively easy for students from the US to apply and be accepted now. If her school in New York is not up to much why not just spend the money on sending her to a decent private school where she can achieve the APs, GPA , SAT and ACT scores that St. Andrews requires for admission.

Many UK universities have direct entry for US students - probably a much easier route than pulling her out of the US system and having her do A' Levels. The UK and US system are so different it might be a hard transition for her.
Good luck to your DD and your DS.

We don't use the A level system in Scotland, we have a different system. Our kids sit National 5 exams in 4th year (year they turn 16), then they go on to sit Higher exams, up to a max of 5 in their 5th year. If they stay on for 6th year, they can sit more highers or advanced highers (which are more like A levels, but slightly more advanced).

Our degrees are 4 years in Scotland, which means it is possible, with 4 or 5 good Higher results, to go to university from the age of about 16.5 onwards.

If she's wanting to go to St Andrews, then although in theory she can go after S5 (or after her Highers), in practice the university prefers that you go after S6 (Advanced Highers/A Levels not sure if Scottish schools still give the option of doing A Levels rather than Advanced Highers ). This is because of the high proportion of English (and therefore older) students.

I went from S5 but the university did contact my school to ask if I were nature enough (and gave deferred acceptances to my friends). I'd had a couple of years in NZ which had matured me, plus I was at the "old" end of the year (birthday in April) so I was 17.5 when I went. Even then, I struggled at the beginning before finding my feet

Another thing to think about is that if she come across here and lives over here for 3 years, then she'd qualify for free tuition fees at Scottish universities.

As far as I am aware, Edinburgh has a far wider divide between state and private schools than the rest of Scotland, so it means that choosing where you live so that you are in the catchment of a "good" school becomes even more important. Not sure how "in year" admissions would work - I'd assume that would depend in whether there was space so even if you were in catchment, you might be allocated a different school.

I am not sure that, under immigration rules, a 14 year old from the US can come to the UK to study in a state secondary school, simply because her brother may be living here. Student visas are something else, so doubt they would apply to children of secondary age. The only possibility would be a private boarding school.

My DD attends a private school in St Andrews (St Leonards) as a day pupil but they also have boarders. Many come from overseas. If you can afford it perhaps she could attend school in St Andrews? Edinburgh isn't very far away so she could see her brother.

Jeff - Given that your son waited until he was 18 for the life altering experience of going to St. Andrews, is there any reason why your DD shouldn't enjoy being 14-18 yr. old doing 14-18 yr. old things, and get to the 18-22 yr. old ones at the appropriate time? It reminds me of that thing about there being a season for all things...

Coming from the USA she would not be able to study at a state funded school.

However, she would be able to attend an independent/private school with a tier 4 child/student visa.

Regardless of her length of stay in Scotland she would not get the free tuition as she is a US resident.

Loads of info online.