Page 2 | Applying for secondary school places from abroad

expatmumjj · 2021-05-20T15:22:40+00:00

I am currently trying to plan our move back to the UK from USA next summer. My eldest daughter will be moving into year 11, which I know is not ideal but we need to return due to our parents being unwell. So staying isn't an option. I have just had an application to the local secondary school she attended before we left turned down with no reasons given. Looking at the LEA website, they only allow applications 6 weeks prior to starting school. However this doesn't really help me do all the forward planning in terms of reviewing curriculum differences etc. Does anyone have any experience of going through this process ? Or any tips on moving secondary schools in general and how to secure a place ? My other option will be to home school for the year but this is a last resort.... Thanks !

bex12345 · 21/05/2021 09:08

@Clymene

It's a dreadful time to move her. Really unfair to mess up her education like this.

Agreed the timing might not be ideal but sometimes circumstances change, there may be more going on than the OP wants to disclose. Pretty sure she could do without the guilt of being told she's going to 'mess up' her daughters education.

Soontobe60 · 21/05/2021 09:21

Sorry @prh47bridge, my assumption was that the schools being applied for were already full, or that the applicant was ready to move imminently. If they were looking for a place some time in the future, are you saying that a school with a place available has to then ringfence that place for someone not yet in a position to take it up over someone else who’s ready to do so immediately?

prh47bridge · 21/05/2021 09:29

@Soontobe60

Sorry *@prh47bridge*, my assumption was that the schools being applied for were already full, or that the applicant was ready to move imminently. If they were looking for a place some time in the future, are you saying that a school with a place available has to then ringfence that place for someone not yet in a position to take it up over someone else who’s ready to do so immediately?

Most admission authorities insist that a place offered to an in-year applicant must be taken up within weeks. There is absolutely no way any school is going to offer a place to the OP now and hold it open until September 2022. However, if the OP was able to take up a place within a few weeks, a place was available and she was the highest priority applicant on the admission criteria, she must be offered the place even if there are lower priority applicants who can take it up immediately.

lanthanum · 21/05/2021 10:59

Some private schools offer a one year GCSE course for those coming from other countries, which might be appropriate, if you can afford it. It's probably mainly the schools that have boarders and are catering to an international market. She'd probably be ahead of the game in that she's already started the courses, but it might work.

I'd keep plugging at things with the LEA, though. They will be obliged to offer a place somewhere once you move. They may be able to identify schools which currently have spaces (and there's relatively unlikely to be changes in year 10/11), so that you can then explore which of those schools would have the best curriculum fit and then work on a reasonable assumption that she will get a place there.

Original poster

expatmumjj · 21/05/2021 14:55

@lanthanum

Some private schools offer a one year GCSE course for those coming from other countries, which might be appropriate, if you can afford it. It's probably mainly the schools that have boarders and are catering to an international market. She'd probably be ahead of the game in that she's already started the courses, but it might work.

I'd keep plugging at things with the LEA, though. They will be obliged to offer a place somewhere once you move. They may be able to identify schools which currently have spaces (and there's relatively unlikely to be changes in year 10/11), so that you can then explore which of those schools would have the best curriculum fit and then work on a reasonable assumption that she will get a place there.

Thanks - yes will look into this. The school have now responded with pretty much similar information to what I've gathered here about why it's a bad idea, but they could actually add her to a waiting list. Again, this is no guarantee of a place, but it is good to know that the LEA would have to offer somewhere. The LEA have said you can only apply 6 weeks before the move date.

We may not have the option to remain here and we have personal family reasons that mean we would prefer to return to the UK next year, but we will explore all avenues. This is exactly why I am researching now and not just waiting as I really don't want "to mess up her education" ....... (yes, most unhelpful post, thx)

OP posts:

Original poster

expatmumjj · 21/05/2021 14:58

To be clear lanthanum I didn't mean your post was unhelpful, the one from Clymene.

OP posts:

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 21/05/2021 15:10

I’ve been teaching 25 years. Pupils are hardly ever moved in Year 11. I can think of 3 in 25 years. Those that do invariably fail no matter how clever they are. And these moves are always frowned on educationally.

Lots of different exam boards teaching lots of different stuff even for the same subject.

I can honestly tell you that she will be unlikely to succeed in her GCSE regardless of her ability. I cannot stress this enough.

Whatever is driving you back to the U.K. is not as important as your daughter’s education. She will not succeed in any format if you change her schooling now.

Sorry to be truthful but it’s a fact. Educationally she will be completely and utterly screwed.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 21/05/2021 15:15

And yes the LEA are obliged to offer you a school when you return. But don’t hold your breath for an Ofsted outstanding or good one. These are usually massively oversubscribed. She could easily end up in a ‘requires improvement’ one.

lanthanum · 21/05/2021 16:11

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

I’ve been teaching 25 years. Pupils are hardly ever moved in Year 11. I can think of 3 in 25 years. Those that do invariably fail no matter how clever they are. And these moves are always frowned on educationally.

Lots of different exam boards teaching lots of different stuff even for the same subject.

I can honestly tell you that she will be unlikely to succeed in her GCSE regardless of her ability. I cannot stress this enough.

Whatever is driving you back to the U.K. is not as important as your daughter’s education. She will not succeed in any format if you change her schooling now.

Sorry to be truthful but it’s a fact. Educationally she will be completely and utterly screwed.

I have come across students who have moved in year 11 and done fine. They might not have done exactly as well as they would have done if they hadn't moved, but they were certainly not "completely and utterly screwed". The one that comes most readily to mind did two subjects fewer at GCSE, because there was a lot of ground to make up in those, but that gave her some extra study time for any catching up needed for other subjects. She got a place at a highly competitive sixth form.

There seems to be a feeling in some quarters that every last GCSE grade is the be all and end all, but frankly, once they're onto a suitable sixth form course, they matter very little. Some universities do look at the GCSE grades, but they would also read the personal statement. The thing to do would be to talk up the things she's gained from having lived in two countries, and the extra independent study skills she may have developed because of needing to catch up any missed topics. The universities then know that the GCSE grades might not be as stellar as they might have been, or why there are only seven subjects.

I don't think many parents who take enough interest in their children's education to be posting here would make any decision to move at this point lightly. Sure, warn them that it will not be easy, but try not to tell people that they are wrecking their kids' lives.

Lougle · 21/05/2021 16:21

Have you considered enrolling her in Interhigh? She'd have to sit the exams as an independent candidate, but they support that. Then she could do year 10 where you are and year 11 here in the UK, but her schooling wouldn't be interrupted.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 21/05/2021 16:57

I disagree.

Universities do look at GCSE grades and even dropping 2 subjects takes you down to a max of 7 GCSE. And why someone be forced to drop 2 subjects anyway because of a parental decision?

Clymene · 22/05/2021 10:26

@expatmumjj

To be clear lanthanum I didn't mean your post was unhelpful, the one from Clymene.

It was in response to this paragraph in your previous post:

'She would love to stay the extra year, the rest of us want to be able to see family and friends again. We’re unable to visit the UK or them come over obviously due to Covid. It’s been almost 2 years since we saw them in person.'

which seems to me to be saying that her wanting to stay to finish the exams she's been working towards for the last few years is an annoying inconvenience to the rest of the family.

Apologies if that isn't how you meant it.

If you speak to any expat advisory service, they don't recommend moving teenagers at all and certainly not during their exams. A move needs to be timed to cause least damage to the whole family, not just some of them.

Assuming you don't all work in the US, could some of you move back this summer so she can start year 10? It will give her a much better chance.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 22/05/2021 10:42

A lot of schools start GCSE in Year 9

Plumbear2 · 24/05/2021 08:39

I'm confused. If you are moving in the summer she's in year 11 surely you would arrive mid way through gcse exams or when year 11 have already finished.

clary · 24/05/2021 10:08

@Plumbear2

I'm confused. If you are moving in the summer she's in year 11 surely you would arrive mid way through gcse exams or when year 11 have already finished.

I think the OP means she would be moving next summer when her dd would be at the end of year 10, going in to yr 11 in Sept 2022. That's my understanding anyway.

prh47bridge · 24/05/2021 10:55

@Plumbear2

I'm confused. If you are moving in the summer she's in year 11 surely you would arrive mid way through gcse exams or when year 11 have already finished.

The OP says she will be moving into Y11, so I presume her daughter will be starting Y11 the September following her return to the UK