year/10 - 11

[Motherplus1]

Good morning,

Not sure if i can get some help here but i am going to try. I am moving to Redhill Surrey in March with my son, now 15, turning 16 in May. he is currently in Grade 10 in South Africa, school here just started 3 weeks ago.

All the schools in the area i have contacted tell me he is suppose to go into year 11 there, but cant be placed as he has no GSCE's. i am also told in this cake he must go to Btech college, this i very worrying as he wants to go to Uni and study mechanical engineering. So college is not an option as i see it.

I tried converting his grade 9 year end term marks to UK GSCE but can't find anything on it.

His Sa mark is equivalent to a D (60% - 69%).

Any help, advice or clarification will be appreciated.

You've chosen a really awkward time to spot into the uk school system (not laying blame!!! Just stating the obvious). Essentially he either needs to start in year 10 or year 12, as those are starting years for qualifications. He can't start in March on a course where the qualification exams are sat in May/june. Could he continue to follow the SA curriculum via home schooling until the autumn, when he could try joking year 12 (if a school/college would allow him to start a levels?)?

Sorry i am new to this ...

Thank you. unfortunately it wasn't a matter of choice. Thanks for your advice.

You need some method of showing a 6th form he is capable of taking A levels to start in September.
Are there any A level colleges in Surrey, or is it only 6th forms?

This may be a bit left field, but you could try contacting Peter Symonds in Winchester, Hants and ask what they would do. (Or even pretend you are maybe moving to Hants). They are an excellent 2000 per year 6th form college mainly doing A levels. They will have experience of people coming to them via unusual routes, e.g. Home Education. Then you can take information gleaned back to the schools in Surrey maybe?

Definitely expect to home ed March-Sept though.

Other options to consider:

• finish education in SA by staying with friends/relatives so he gets the GCSE-equivalent qualifications there and then move him to the UK for A levels, (or even do all pre-uni in SA then move over.)
• some kind of 'access' year at the 'BTEC college' to get the maths/English GCSEs and a L2 BTEC in some kind of engineering, with a view to transferring to a 6th form school for A levels afterwards. 3 years in this level of education is fine.

Are you looing at state education (free) or private (fee-paying)?

A private 6th form might be more flexible - they may be willing for your DS to sit and entrance exam to see whether he is of appropriate ability, rather than focussing on hte lack of GCSEs.

When would your DS take national exams in SA? Is there a possibility of him being able to take those so that UK schools have some indication of his ability?

There would be no point joining in March of year 11 as there will be an Easter break then study leave for gcses starting in May. You could try East Surrey College to see what they might suggest for the interim, or Coulsdon College. He could apply to Reigate College which is a standalone sixth form college for September , for either A levels or Btecs. The other state school in the area which would be used to accommodating overseas students is Royal Alexandra and Albert, a state funded day/ boarding school, although it has a less academic reputation than Reigate College.

I don't mean to put a dampner on things but if he is really only performing at a D level then he may be better suited ro Btec rather than A levels anyway.

60-70% would be about a 7 (A in old money). It might not translate to a D in the UK.

It is unlikely that a D in South Africa will "translate" to a higher grade over here though.

For example, we had US students who would complain when they came to the UK that they were straight A students in the US but only were getting b/C grades over here.

So if he is getting Ds there it is likely that there are quite a few students getting Cs, Bs and As above him so possibly not a top performer here either.

I am foreign. If I'd come to the uk, I honestly suspect I would have gone from being an a/b student to an A* student. I laugh at some of the work that my gcse students find difficult now (obviously not in front of them). My point is that grades don't translate across curriculum changes, let alone a different system entirely!

Thank you, I did look further into it and its actually very difficult to compare, but it seems yes it is morevof an A. I know what you mean, my son goes to a good orivate school here, and others have said the same as the private school here isvery high standard.x

The comparison is a bit irrelevant. The area has non selective state education - options include comprehensive schools (only 2 of which have sixth forms), a standalone sixth form college or Further Education colleges (which offer limited 14-16 courses, mainly aimed at 16+ and adults). As long as his education history meets the relevant entry requirements he has choice of btec or A level. It is this you need initial guidance on hence my suggestion to speak to ESC as a starting point.

The comparison is a bit irrelevant. The area has non selective state education - options include comprehensive schools (only 2 of which have sixth forms), a standalone sixth form college or Further Education colleges (which offer limited 14-16 courses, mainly aimed at 16+ and adults). As long as his education history meets the relevant entry requirements he has choice of btec or A level. It is this you need initial guidance on hence my suggestion to speak to ESC as a starting point.

Thank you, yes I have mailed them today. What I have been told is that given the fact that he has no GCSE's he would need to do an intermediate year (3 GCSEs) before being able to enter into Btech or A Level. Here they do exams twice a year from GR 4 onwards all the way to matric, results here are in percentage, equaling to a level, in his case he is Level 5 here (60-69%).

Have you thought about International schools who will be used to overseas students and their courses?

Presumably they include Maths and English. He may be able to do those alongside a level 3 qualification (Btec/NVQ/A level) with those resittting, assuming he can prove some aptitude, or another Level 2.

Thank you Lizs, I have contacted East Surrey College and busy with the Reigate one as well as well as Coulsdon.