Moving from British System to American System in High School -- is it challenging?

[Lilly14]

We are an American Family but have not lived in America for the last few years. Moving to London this summer.

Oldest will be starting 8th year (UK standards) in September and I am trying to decide if attending a British School vs an International School with IB program will be ok? The British Schools (paid tuition) have an excellent education system and I'm inclined for my child to integrate with the locals more. However, there is a chance in 3 years we move again and quite possibly to the US for remainder of their High School years.

If they attended a local British School (paid tuition) now and then had to transfer to a US school.... am I doing my child a dis-service having them in a British school system now vs an international school with IB or AP classes vs A1levels or whichever it is called?

I know this is wordy so if you have made it this far, thank you. Basically, does anyone know or have experience with a High School aged child who transferred FROM British system to US system without issues? Academically was it harder or easier? Thank you!

There are plenty of British schools that now offer the IB at Sixth Form, including in London. But they don’t all do a pre-IB programme. Many do GCSE or IGCSE or a mix in years 9-11.
My friends went to the American school in London and were happy but said it was expensive and there was a high turnover of kids. However, there children settled back in easily in US.
I think it depends on how many years you are staying. Doing GCSE years 9-11 would be good preparation for any country. But you need the child to start here in Year 9 and leave at the end of Year 11. Or carry on for A levels or IB. You can’t join a British school in Year 10 for example.

@Eightytwenty

I’ve heard the US system is much easier based on friends who moved back here from the US.

So have I. My anecdata of one family is an American family who moved here for 2 years. Their DC were behind their peers when they were first here, then when they went back they were ahead.

I can't advise re IB though.

Of course you can join a British school in year 10. I know those who came from abroad and joined part way through year 10 - after Christmas.

Yes, the US education system is easier.

@Incognito22333 thank you for clarifying, this is helpful.

@snowiscold- I am talking about competitive London Private schools. The top ones are very oversubscribed and definitely don’t like anyone joining half way through their GCSE programme. State schools with vacancies have to by law offer places.
Op I think Google all the English schools doing IB and investigate from there. Some people also go for boarding schools and let their children stay for Sixth Form whilst they return abroad - so that could also be an option. For example, the most famous British school Eton College doesn’t offer IB but has significant US uni applicants now for the top US schools.
There are actually state grammars that offer IB like Dartford Grammar (boys school
until GCSE) and Tonbridge Grammar (tutor until GCSE) and they are actually really good but hard to get in. The entry point is Year 7 and then after GCSE again for Sixth Form.

It is not easy to get into top British schools so best to get in touch with them now and ring around. There are also educational consultants you can hire to help, but I assume this is expensive.
I have one child at Sevenoaks School
and they do IB too. Outside London but easy access to London. Boarding and day school - so this type of school might also be a good option for you.

www.ib-schools.com/league-tables/uk-top-ib-schools

whichschooladvisor.com/uk/guides/which-uk-state-schools-offer-the-ib

First, is a league table for IB schools. You must check the cohort size (you want it to be big enough!) and also whether co-ed or not and then check the websites for board vs day pupils percentages (for private schools).
The Which article is interesting but does not, for example, highlight that the cohort taking IB at eg. Whitgift is small. You want a big enough IB cohort with lots of subject choice on offer.

Most of the very top academic schools in UK are single sex and that is not necessarily what international parents want.

The UK system is very narrow focused. If entering the final two years of American high school, students will be expected to study a far more varied curriculum, including all core subjects/history/etc. I personally would stick with the American system so that your kids don't end up with a narrow education that limits them in further study.

@Incognito22333 Wow, these links are fantastic, thank you!

I don't think the IB would be particularly helpful - it's for the last two years anyway so from the IB they'd be applying to university. If you are just staying through Y11 (GCSE) then there's a broad range of subjects so will be more compatible for a return to an American high school. The IB is still fairly restrictive.
I hate the A level system here (forcing the kids to restrict their choices so young) and wish they just continued in several subjects like in the US.

The UK system is very narrow focused. If entering the final two years of American high school, students will be expected to study a far more varied curriculum, including all core subjects/history/etc.

For A levels, yes, but for GCSEs? Most pupils take 9 or 10 subjects so I wouldn't call that particularly narrow.

I hate the A level system here (forcing the kids to restrict their choices so young) and wish they just continued in several subjects like in the US.

It suits some pupils though. DD is doing a STEM degree and would have struggled with the IB as she is not really an all rounder. She needed the depth that was covered at A level in chemistry and biology, and if she had taken the IB her marks would have been pulled down by her weaker subjects.

Not all students are good all rounders.

@Eightytwenty

I’ve heard the US system is much easier based on friends who moved back here from the US.

It depends. The standards of US schools vary enormously, even more so than in the UK. If your kids are moving from a highly selective school in the UK to a middling open-enrollment school in the US, they're very likely to be ahead. If your kids are moving from a middling comprehensive in the UK to a school in a very well-to-do neighborhood in the US, they're unlikely to be near the top of the class.

@onedayoranother - the IB is not restrictive. I did it more than 20 years ago and was offered a place at Cambridge and Harvard (plus a Grande Ecole in Paris). It is the one programme you can do that most top universities understand worldwide. If you are an international family it makes sense.
However, like with everything you have to choose your higher subjects carefully according to the course you would like to study at university. If you are aiming for medicine or engineering, for example, then you need to pick the right subjects for IB at Higher Level. It is only restrictive in that sense.

i moved to the US after gcse level. They worked out what I had done and moved me up a school year straight into senior year high school and even then the mfl was a lower standard than what I had already done. It would be harder to come from the US to the UK. There were a couple of subjects I had to take to graduate high school such as US History and American Government but even Honours English wasn't as hard or varied as gcse English.

I was a secondary teacher for 25 years. Transferring kids into Year 10 is not advised.

It’s madness

A family member moved from the UK to the US in time to start his sophomore year of High school - he found the American system extremely easy in comparison to the British private system.

@EllieNBeeb

The UK system is very narrow focused. If entering the final two years of American high school, students will be expected to study a far more varied curriculum, including all core subjects/history/etc. I personally would stick with the American system so that your kids don't end up with a narrow education that limits them in further study.

English, not UK. The Scottish education system allows for a wide variety of subjects to be studied in S5 and S6.

The US system departs radically from the English system after GSCEs. It is a big change for students expecting to do 3 in-depth A levels and tbh I would really try to avoid moving a student at that stage unless they were always expecting the american curriculum. If your child is entering year 8 then in 3 years they will be heading for year 11 or maybe freshman year in high school in US? It could work but any further into A levels/high school years would be tricky imo.

The idea that US high school is easier is a simplistic one. Yeah, it probably is easier than A levels if you are an average student in a not particularly competitive school in a not particularly pressured school district. But most able students are taking honours and AP classes. AP physics might not match exactly to A Level physics but the student may be someone with a humanities bent who will also be taking AP English, AP Spanish, Calculus, and Honours History in the same year, for example. The biggest difference I saw between leaving cert/'A level exams and the papers expected from my kids for AP/Honours English Lit and History was they were expected to read texts and come up with their own thesis and argue it, rather than answering questions/responding to a thesis set by the examiner.

Not all students are good all rounders.

It's normally quite clear by age 16 where a student's aptitudes and interests lie. There would have been no point in me continuing with Maths, for example, post-O Level. Waste of my time, waste of the teacher's time.

And what happens when you get to university if you've never studied any subject in depth? Or would the university curriculum have to step back to what used to be A Level?

I have a Masters in International Education.

By any measure the US system is easier, yes. It's a generalisation, but you're looking at students being about a year ahead in every subject coming from the UK.

HOWEVER, there is a much bigger range of schools in the US, and they're arguably a much better preparation for university than British schools (which is why students leave university at comparable levels). This isn't relevant to your question, but I'm just making the obvious point that the US education system is excellent!

The best of all is the IB however. It gives a carefully balanced curriculum, prepares students the best for university and life, as well as valuing extracurricular activities and the soft skills/critical thinking you need for jobs. In terms of standards it's very 'efficient' too. Students leave at a higher level than in the US, and despite the fact that they've studied more subjects than in the UK, not much below. If you have the opportunity I'd go for that!

OP I didn't really answer your question- I was just excited about somebody asking my specialist subject (if you've got any questions about African curricula I'm also your woman!).

As someone else said, you'd have no real problems if you moved before A-levels. You've also probably got a years grace after that (because of the whole 'behind' thing). But there would be a few issues- like different focus in English, for example. Students learn very close analytical skills here, but more general arguments in the US- which is different, but interesting! Maths uses different methodology- that sort of thing.
I would have thought it would be something a child could deal with though.....Yes, it would be fine.

Good luck!

I moved to the US and started high school in sophomore year. I went to one of the top schools in the US and it was easier. For junior and senior year you still do a large range of subjects as we would do for GCSEs. It was a great experience and if you move back there is no issue transferring grades etc for UK universities.

What system are the kids in now?
If there is the possibility of staying in that system (be it US, IB or British International/English) I'd stick with it.
I've seen kids switch from PYP/MYP into international British (which means English) and struggle due to widely different structure, rather than academic content.

The English and US systems seem to diverge at Middle School, with US going for breath, and English going for depth. Switching leads to gaps in either direction.

And what happens when you get to university if you've never studied any subject in depth? Or would the university curriculum have to step back to what used to be A Level?

Well most US students will have done 4 years of math, language, and English at the very least before graduating high school so they will certainly have gone in-depth and many will have already taken college-level classes so they can test out of some of the 101 classes. DD did a spanish exchange in high school. in her final year of spanish she was studying a medieval text and poems that her spanish exhange buddy was also studying in high school in madrid.

the US university experience is a bit different too (although changing a bit). The 4-year liberal arts degree means you take classes in a wide range of subjects before graduating. My son who graduated as a mechanical engineer took literature and music classes to fulfill his humanities requirements. My dd who is a double humanities major had to take a science including a lab, an art elective and calculus. I like this system a lot having seen it in action.