Where can I attend 1-yr GCSE Course ?

[Clover2021]

The 1-yr fast track run by the state school or college in Greater London or South England is preferable. I am focused on science stream (including physics, chemistry, biology, further math) apart from two core subjects.

@titchy

So child is in year 10, not abroad, but not in UK. Very peculiar.... perhaps if OP were clearer - a lot clearer, some advice worth having could be offered.

Sorry for my confusion. The child is still studying year 10 in overseas, ready to move to the UK.

But that does not mean he has an automatic right to a year 11 place or A level course. He has to meet entry requirements and the school/college have a place.

But that does not mean he has an automatic right to a year 11 place or A level course. He has to meet entry requirements and the school/college have a place.

@titchy

I won't consider private or independent until I have stable income. Given the pandemic impact, I can't expect much on the job market in the first year (even up to 3 years).

My rental budget is up to £1,000 pm for a 2-bedroom apartment. I don't care about the size, but security and accessibility is my priority.

Then you need to give some details about this child. Honestly this is like pulling teeth. No one can advise without some details.

Not sure what further details you are referring to. The child is turning to 16 before next academic year and studying at year 10 with focus on science stream in current location. No GCSE result so far.

@LIZS

But that does not mean he has an automatic right to a year 11 place or A level course. He has to meet entry requirements and the school/college have a place.

You are right. We need to meet admission requirement at the FE. So I don't expect for sixth form.

Is he studying for gcses/igcses or a different curriculum altogether? Level of English speaking? UK does not have many specialist state schools.

What line of work do you hope to pursue if you fear it will be slow and if funds are already limited? In many parts of the country £1k won't get you much at all, in others it will. Look at rightmove to see the variations. Have you lived in UK before or have any friends/relatives/colleagues to advise you?

6th form can be part of FE. They offer y12/13 and beyond, and in some cases 14+ vocational courses.

Studying in what system? iGCSE? IB? There's no such thing in UK as science track.

What country? If 16 before next September then they'd be expected to be starting sixth form not go into year 11 or even drop to year 10.

Can they get a transcript of what they've studied? Leaving certificate?

What ability - top of their cohort?

Aiming for uni? Here? In home country? Fee status? Presume they are your dependent?

Why does it have to be s grammar school? Some very good Comprehensive schools, with sixth forms, with BTEC and A levey courses

@Needmoresleep

You also need to watch out for age. I helped a friend moving back from France with a child who was 17, and in turn received good help from the much missed Boho his. The Lycee was extraordinarily unhelpful.

The solution was for him to start an A level course from scratch. He was lucky that a good state school was willing to let him start a year below his normal year group. Not all will. He also had to work hard to plug gaps and get to grips with a different learning culture. It worked out well. He settled quickly helped by starting at a natural break point, and got three good A levels (from memory A,A,B) as well as an A* in French. And this was a boy who had become seriously disengaged with the French system. (One reason why they returned at such an odd point.)

There were a few options, including private which can offer more flexibility. The boy made the final decision. It was his future and he needed to do the work.

Ditto a family we know returned from Italy when their son was 15, in part because he wanted to attend an academic UK university. They spent a year in London where he went to a private crammer and worked astonishingly hard, having accepted this was necessary in order to establish himself in a new system. I think he wound up with 9A*s and one A. Sixth form was then pretty straight forward... and a lot more fun.

That's encouraging news! Thanks for kind sharing!

@LIZS

Is he studying for gcses/igcses or a different curriculum altogether? Level of English speaking? UK does not have many specialist state schools.

What line of work do you hope to pursue if you fear it will be slow and if funds are already limited? In many parts of the country £1k won't get you much at all, in others it will. Look at rightmove to see the variations. Have you lived in UK before or have any friends/relatives/colleagues to advise you?

We have reviewed some igcse past papers and curriculum from the textbooks (math, phy, chem, bio) we ordered. Our year 10 covers almost half of them. We do need to spend time on English as we are not native, but it should be manageable.

Rightmove always shows me £1.5k ~

But that won't help with other subjects - English, either lit or language, at minimum grade 4 is a requirement for most level 3 (A level, IB, Btec eyc) courses and y12 entry along with at least 4 more including maths. Most students take 8 or more. Many Sixth form/FE colleges request a higher standard to progress specific subjects. Alternatively you could home ed and pay subject tutors to enter him as an independent candidate.

@titchy

Studying in what system? iGCSE? IB? There's no such thing in UK as science track.

What country? If 16 before next September then they'd be expected to be starting sixth form not go into year 11 or even drop to year 10.

Can they get a transcript of what they've studied? Leaving certificate?

What ability - top of their cohort?

Aiming for uni? Here? In home country? Fee status? Presume they are your dependent?

I tend to go to FE (without strict requirement on age at each level). But it does not stop me to check with the council too. I will provide all relevant doc to the education institutions in our application, but not here.

When is he 16 though? As pp stated If he loses a year he may not be funded throughout his studies as it stops the academic year after he is 19.

@LIZS

But that won't help with other subjects - English, either lit or language, at minimum grade 4 is a requirement for most level 3 (A level, IB, Btec eyc) courses and y12 entry along with at least 4 more including maths. Most students take 8 or more. Many Sixth form/FE colleges request a higher standard to progress specific subjects. Alternatively you could home ed and pay subject tutors to enter him as an independent candidate.

Home ed + online private tutors will be our last resort if FE does not work.

@LIZS

When is he 16 though? As pp stated If he loses a year he may not be funded throughout his studies as it stops the academic year after he is 19.

May

But FE will rarely offer a 1 year gcse course beyond basic ones, and not to a 15yo. Most taking them are resits or older students who did not achieve English and Maths.

@Frankley

Why does it have to be s grammar school? Some very good Comprehensive schools, with sixth forms, with BTEC and A levey courses

Can't agree more

Confused then. Do you want him to take gcses or have direct entry onto A level courses in September?

He would be y11 already in England.

OP I'm not checking up and I'm sure you have no intention of doing anything dodgy. But to work out what the best course of action is we need a better idea of what system he is currently in and his ability. And whether UK uni is an aim. Especially as it now transpires that he is the year 11 age group not year 10 as you posted.

Going direct to a sixth form do A levels or BTEC plus English GCSE may well be a good option, but without knowing what his current education background is it's difficult to make that judgement.

Your problem is that you are looking at entry requirements for UK educated students, not those coming from abroad.

If you're not willing to be more open here then I'd suggest getting in contact with some colleges, preferably ones used to an international cohort (Peter Simmonds in Hants for example, but London colleges will also be more used to international students, certainly more than somewhere such as Exeter!) or paying for an educational consultant.

There is no such thing as science stream in the UK.

What country/educational system is he currently studying.

What is his date of birth?

@LIZS

Confused then. Do you want him to take gcses or have direct entry onto A level courses in September?

GCSE, as captioned

Ok, if he’s 16 in May he would be in UK year 10

In the country where he is currently studying would he normally be sitting any kind of qualification/school leavers certificate at this stage or would it be the case that students would generally only sit exams at 18?

If the former, depending on the educational system and things like transcripts, teacher reports etc it may be possible for an international student to go directly into A level study without GCSE’s as long as there is some proof that he is academically capable of it.

But it is something you would need to directly discuss, on an individual basis with any potential schools or colleges.

Ok, if he’s 16 in May he would be in UK year 10

Year 11! One of the youngest, but still
Year 11.