change of school in year 10/11

[diddybobster]

Hello All,
I am after some advice on whether it is possible to change schools mid GCSE. My DD is currently in year 10 but may need to move for the start of year 11. Apart from different schools using different exam boards are there any other factors to consider? Do schools even accept transfers mid GCSE studies?! Has anyone managed a transfer successfully?
Thanks.

How difficult for your poor DD. Of course it's possible to change at the end of yr 10 but I guess " avoid if at all possible" is the real thing. If not possible , how receptive would she/the school be to repeating year 10? as basically she'll have to catch up on half a course whilst working on the 2nd half :(

This idea will not be popular with the schools AT ALL and you will be very lucky indeed to find somewhere doing the same exam boards in the same subjects where there is space for her in each class.

Unless there is a very, very good reason (like that her mental health is suffering because of bullying where she is, or something equally serious) then I would say don't do it.

I would imagine it's due to family moving for work, but there will be other children who have to move at this stage (unsafe where they are for example).

No experience, but things to watch for:

• can controlled assessments and coursework be 'transferred'
• option blocks may mean all choices may not be accommodated
• some subjects may have very different syllabus - eg History 20th Century or American West

Probably I would guess at least one option may need to be dropped and then use the resultant 'free' periods (around 5 per fortnight) to catch up on syllabus differences.

It would probably be unmanageable, and would seriously affect her results. The best thing if she has to move would be to restart Y10 and do the full 2 years of GCSE at her new school.

I had a student who missed a term of Y10, and while she tried to catch up, it was only in Y11 and the courses were finishing that she realised how disadvantaged she was by it. And that was just a term!

Thanks for the replies.
It would be very much a last resort and while I had thought of exam boards and course work I had not considered timetabling in relation to her continuing with her chosen options. It seems just as difficult to manage as I had feared. I guess that repeating year 10 could be an option if we do have to go down the change of school route. Thanks again, all good food for thought.

You can transfer controlled assessment between schools. However the schools must do it between them, you must not be an intermediary.

We have had occasional new pupils arrive at the beginning of y11 but it is not easy for the pupil or the school.

my dd started a new school in yr 10 in the oct she had to choose new options but is doing pretty well now.we moved from london to the north east she was behind in some subjects but caught up quickly

Due to changes in GCSE specifications in English, Maths and Science and some other subjects for the current Y9s, it may not be possible to repeat Y10 next year as the courses will be completely different.