Moving from Northern Irish School System to English HELP!!

[Joleenshaw85]

We are looking to relocate from Belfast to Chester as a family, my husband is currently working there at present and dependant on myself obtaining a job there we would all relocate.

We have a 14 year old son who is currently in year 10 in a Secondary school in Belfast who would be due to start his G.C.S.E years in September 2019.

I am looking for some information on how easy it is to move from the Northern Irish System to the English System. Has anyone experienced this?
Here in Belfast I would just contact schools in the area I live and see if they have spaces. I think this is different in England though Do we countact the Education Authority. Do we have any say in which school he gets or do they just allocate him one? As this is the start of his GCSE's I would like to pick a school on subjects offered.

We would ideally be looking to move upon completion of his year 10 in Belfast in June, however as I’m aware English school years end in July would he ok to just take up a place in a new school in September?

Any help with this is greatly appreciated we are kind of in the dark here with the systems being so different.

When is he 15? If he turns 15 before Sept 1 he would join an english school at the start of yr 11which is the final year of GCSEs and thus very much to be avoided. If he is 15 after Sept 1then it's not as tricky, he would need to find a school ASAP tho as they will be picking options now. You need to find a school with a two year KS4 as many are now starting GCSE courses in yr 9 ie when pupils are 13,turning 14.

Well if your husband has a job in Cheshire he presumably has also got an address there. Just contact the local lea and ask what schools have spaces. He will need to take up the space almost immediately though as they will presume he has moved already. So you could call once he finishes his school in Ireland and he would ideally join for the last couple of weeks. Year 9 GCSEs is a consideration but he would be able to catch up so I wouldn’t discount a school just on that, you may not have much choice anyway.

Hi OP, is your son born on or before 31st Aug 2004 or after?

If it's before then he'd be due to start in Y11 which is half way (and in practice about 2/3 of the way) through the GCSE courses which would be pretty disastrous.

If he's born on or after 1st Sept 2004 then he'll go into Y10 and start the GCSE courses which is fine.

He is born the 02/08/2004. However he has not started his GCSES yet he is due to pick his subjects this year and start his studies toward them in September 2019. He is in the England equivalent of year 9.

Hello,
The problem you might well find is that he's supposed to be in Y10 in the English system so unless a school will take him "out of year" then it's going to be tricky.

You'll probably need to speak to some schools and see whether they'd take someone out of year.

Hopefully cause he has completed the correct number of school years they would let him be held back a year. We dont have a definitive address yet and are still looking at areas so hopefully we will know an address soon to contact a school

I'm not understanding how the system in N.I. seems to differ so radically? My ds date of birth is similar to your ds - 6/8/2004, and he is in Yr 10, albeit young in the year. His school started work towards some GCSEs in yr 9, and he is now halfway through the GCSE years proper.

If he is 15 in August then yes, he would be in yr 11 in September, basically the final year of GCSEs, that's a nightmare time to move. It's very unusual to find a state school willing to take a student out of year, or willing to let one join in yr 11, esp if he hasn't even started GCSEs.

In Northern Ireland you have to turn start school If a child's fourth birthday is between September 1, and July 1, so my son was born outside of this making him have an extra at home and effectly not start school untill he was 5.

GCSE's are only studied for two years in N.I between the ages of 15 and 16. We also still get graded letters here a-G instead of the numbered system which came into effect there last year.

This all really has me worried we may not be able to complete our move as my sons education is very important.

Do children in N.I. finish their studies when they are a year older than children in England? E.g. after GCSEs and two years of A Level study, my ds will be 17, nearly 18. Would your ds be 18, nearly 19, if he continued in the N.I. system? Just interested in the difference! Hope you get everything sorted out. As your ds is young in the year, it hopefully won't be too much of a problem for him to start year 10 here as not hugely older than anyone else in his year. Maybe ask schools if they would be prepared to do this, and whether any GCSE work has already been started.

I would contact LEA and maybe possible schools now and explain, it's possible there may be one that is willing to take him out of year. He would only be a month older than the oldest student in yr 10 in Sept so that wouldn't be terrible. I don't know how likely it is tho.

Sorry, x post! I think you've partly explained this.

No, kids in NI finish at the same time as kids in England, it's the timing of their birthday in relation to the start of the school year that's different, ie the cut off point is July 1, not August 31.

It's quite handy for summer borns, in that when they start school in the September after their 4th birthday, the youngest they can be is 4 and 2 months, instead of 4 and 1 day.

Just as a warning OP - in general, English schools are quite different to NI schools, and in my opinion not usually in a good way. If you can delay until your son has finished his GCSEs, I would. A-Levels not so vital as there are some great sixth forms in England.

PeachGreen we have already been living apart for 3 years and its got to the stage where we cant just go on this way much longer. Do u feel the NI system is better? When u say quite different can you elaborate?

Just to add, as he is a summer born child he actually has a right to start a year later. This was introduced a couple of years ago for reception children. A summer born child is from April onward and a parent can request to start their child a year later with sufficient evidence. This evidence can range in complexity based on councils but it's worth calling the councils and asking. If he can go into Y10 he will be fine. Y11, I wouldn't recommend- there as some kids who do extremely well in these situations but it is super stressful for all involved. The good thing is- for him anyway- is that there is no coursework, or very little of it so it is all exam based.

Behaviour is better in NI. Much much less bullying. Teachers are under less stress and better-paid (at least, comparatively given the cost of living) which imho results in a better quality of teaching. Some subjects are totally different (history especially). The grammar system means that children are in an environment with other children of a similar academic ability which allows for better, more targeted teaching.

For me, the real difference is the behaviour. I think an English school could be quite intimidating for a child used to NI schools.

Of course I'm talking generally, and there are lots of wonderful schools in England as well as some not so good ones in NI. But I think it you could avoid the culture shock for your son it would be worth the sacrifice.

There is some confusion here as the NI system is slightly different. The op is correct when she says her child is in Year 10 the equivalent of year 9 in England. He isn't being educated out of his year group. In NI there Reception is called Year 1, so the years don't always map across. If they were to move he should be able to move straight into Year 10 and start his GCSES .

Do children in N.I. finish their studies when they are a year older than children in England? E.g. after GCSEs and two years of A Level study, my ds will be 17, nearly 18. Would your ds be 18, nearly 19, if he continued in the N.I. system?

That sounds about right. My daughter has an August birthday and she will be about five weeks away from turning 19 by the time she finishes sixth form.

Hi OP, I live on the Wirral so the neighbouring LA borough to Cheshire.

I would echo other posters recommendations that you try to let your son finish his GCSE's in Belfast. As the UK GCSE's have changed some schools including my sons are now asking children to take their options at the end of year 8 (when they are 12/13 years old) and are converting the GCSE curriculum to 3 years (Yrs 9, 10, 11) to cope with the considerably wider content.

As previous posters have mentioned if your son was not granted leave to be held back a year then he would be classed as year 11 which is the final GCSE year. Other students could potentially be 2 years ahead in their GCSE course and would be finishing their courses off during the first two terms then consolidating from Easter onward. It would be near impossible for your son to catch up as he would have missed out on 2/3 of the teaching in every subject. I would imagine that any school would try and support him as best they could but realistically Year 11 is frenetic and they would be facing a herculean task that would be incredibly stressful for your son.

If you could perhaps wait until sixth form that would be a much easier transition as all of the students would be starting A levels together.

On a side note Wirral has some great schools and is a grammar area. Calday Grange Grammar is a fair distance away but has private transport from Wales and Chester area for students.

Surely the boy is studying GCSEs in his own school, so if he moves across into the next year he should be in, he will still have studied a year of biology or whatever. Issues are if schools are doing different options, or starting earlier.
Children move schools all the time though, and at least he is moving from a gcse system to another gcse system (ie not to Scotland or Republic of Ireland).
I would get accurate advice on the birth date issue from an admissions officer - maybe someone on the thread can advise if that would be the local authority or the schools themselves.

Surely the boy is studying GCSEs in his own school, so if he moves across into the next year he should be in, he will still have studied a year of biology or whatever.

If he's 14 in N Ireland he won't have started the GCSE courses yet or chosen his subjects.

Sorry I know that I mean the sense of urgency that you can’t move once the gcse years begin.

I went to school in NI though it was all fields then

He hasn't picked subject here yet let alone even started studying for them I think I will ring the Chester authority and the Wales side one tomorrow to speak more advice as we still aren't sure which catchment area we will end up in