Returning to the Uk I with a 15 year old

[Perrier60]

im returning to the UK with my 15 year old daughter in March, two month before her 16 th birthday, after 8 years in the Caribbean. She will not have any formal qualifications. What are my options, will she be entitled to free education? What about after her 16 th birthday. Thanks

Yes, she will be entitled to free education.

The problem will be that she will be re-entering the system just as everyone is revising Yr 9 and 10 work for the summer GCSE exams.

Does the Caribbean Education system (or the one she has been educated in) have exams at 16? Will she have taken them by March? If not would it be possible to leave her in school until she has and then bring her straight back to start 6th Form / A levels here?

Some FE/Sixth form colleges offer one year GCSE courses (normally 5 subjects) but these are offered patchily and are sometimes resit-only.

BTECs (vocational qualifications) could be an alternative.

What are her interests/ambitions? Where in the UK will you be living?

Those things will make a difference.

She'd be in year 11 which is GCSE year. Education or training is compulsory until 18 for her intake. It would be worth contacting the LA of the area you intend to live (county or borough council) to ask their suggestions. From September she could enter a local further education / 6th form college to take GCSE equivalent maths and English plus some form of other qualifications either academic or vocational. Does she have any certificates which might transfer ?

oops, sorry, yes, Yrs 10 and 11 are GCSE years.

I have a non-GCSE-taking Yr 9...duh to self!

Well some start in Y9 - my DC'S school!

OP, that is a really tricky time to come back - they will be preparing for exams 2 months later. Could you find out if she could at least go into Y10?

The problem if she goes into Yr 10 (unusual anyway) is that she will already have missed 2/5 of the GCSE course (assuming Yr 10/11 course as is most common still) not to mention previous grounding.

The Yr 11s will mostly be on study leave/exam prep from Easter anyway, so there will be very little actual edcucation to be gained from attending school at that point.

TBH I can't imagine any local authority getting too worked up if she was home educated until September and then enrolled in a suitable college course.

Thank you for all your comments. She will not have taken any caribbean exams for 2015, they are due 2016. We will be moving back to Bucks. Another factor is she is dyslexic, so not very good at reading. She is a national swimmer and is very artistic. Will I be able to get her into collect for a btec, with no recognized qualifications?

She might have to take some form of assessment to determine whether she can do a Level 2 course straight away in September or would need to entry level and/or level 1 Numeracy and Literacy/Functional Skills first. She may be able to do Level 1 in summer term if you can find a FE college that caters for 14-16 year olds and is prepared to take her mid year. What type of qualifications does she want to achieve and with a view to what at 18?

She should be able to get onto something. BTECs start at level 1 which is lower GCSE equivalent (then level 2 GCSES equiv and level 3 is A level equiv).

If you can find somewhere that offers level 1 in a suitable subject she should be ok. If she opts for Art & Design or similar a simple portfolio of work will help, as will a rference from a previous teacher, if available. Level 2 might even be possible, depending on aptitude.

Many colleges administer diagnostic tests on interview, which will be helpful anyway.

She will be required to study for Literacy/English and Numeracy/Maths qualifications alongside her chosen course.

Have a look and see what the local colleges offer and what she fancies.

An example of an arts course;

www.amersham.ac.uk/course/btec-lev1-diploma-in-creative-studies-ft/

"This course is ideal if you have GCSEs grades E or below or no qualifications but an interest in Art & Design."

I believe by law your dd s entitled to free ft ed before age 18. I personally will make contacts with the further education colleges to get info about possible courses. I would prefer a fe college than a school as she will feel more grown up and her peers will be more mature. So she would be one of the many youngish students and new starters in a fe college in sept.

I agree with others that college from September seems to make sense. Here are details of the legal situation:

Until June 2015, your daughter is of "compulsory school age" and must be in full-time education. Home education would be a good idea to cover this period. It is totally straightforward: you do not have to register with anyone, and there are no required subjects. So, she can spend this time focusing on whatever she wants, whether that is settling into British life, working on an art portfolio, or visiting art galleries. Educating children who are of compulsory school age is the parent's legal responsibility. It is unlikely that the Local Authority would take much interest in such a short period of home education, especially as they wouldn't really know what to do with her anyway if you presented her to a school as a Y11 pupil shortly before exams and asked them to educate her for a few months. Chances are she won't even come to their attention and if she does, they'll just say, "er, right, good idea, carry on with it then". If you do have any questions, there is a home ed board here at Mumsnet.

Then until her 18th birthday she must be in education or training. If she is working or volunteering for at least 20 hours a week, this can be part-time education. Otherwise it must be full-time. Home education continues to be an option at this stage. Remaining in education or training at this age becomes the young person's legal responsibility, not the parent's. However, the government has not introduced any criminal sanctions against young people who do not comply.

If your daughter doesn't enjoy the college environment much, then she might want to consider an option other than full-time college attendance.

Just taking advantage of this thread as I will be in a similar situation. We'll be moving back to UK from Europe next September when DD will be due to start y11. She will have already done the French gcse equivalent exams (as she is a year ahead here.) Will she be able to join a y11 class and still do some gcses, having missed y10 coursework? She's very sociable and I would rather be in school than home ed.
I should probably call the LA but would appreciate any mumsnet thoughts first.

If her english is fluent, I imagine direct entry into VIth form is more likely/productive/desirable.

Joining GCSEs halfway through is likely to problematic. The obvious solution is to either go down a year and start the 2 year GCSE course with the cohort or up a year straight to Yr 12/college.