Moving from England to Scotland in year 10

[Stunks]

My twin daughters have just chosen their GCSE options and are going into year 10 in September 2022 in England. We have now decided to move to Scotland! I cannot find a human to speak to in Scotland and am worried about how things work. I know that Scottish children sit Nationals but am not sure which year my girls will go into. They are 14 and were born 27 Dec 2007. Does anyone have experience of this please? Thank you.

They will be going into S4 in August and will take their Nat5’s in June 2023. Nat5’s are one year courses though so don’t worry about that.

Thank you so much. Nice and simple. What do they do in S5?

They take highers, then you can take either more highers in S6 or Advanced highers instead.

Exactly what wannakiss said. They'll do between 7-9 Nationals depending upon area/ school. These will be National 5/4/3 deoending on ability.

In S5 they can choose up to 5 Highers - some kids do a combination of Highers and more National 5s. Highers are equivalent to AS Level, Advanced Highers are equivalent to/ slightly higher than (depending on the subject) A level. You do up to 3 of those.

Puffalicious they are not limited to 3 Advanced Highers. My DD took 5, one of them at the same time as her Highers, having sat her Maths Higher a year early. She had to attend two different high schools simultaneously to cover all the subjects in her timetable, but they were fortunately on the same street!

My child is a similar age and is going into S4 this year. Although the Nat5 courses are supposed to be 1 year they are building on what they've learnt in S3- in their school they take 10 subjects in S3 and narrow it down to 6 for S4. Other areas are different and private schools different again. Mine is certainly covering Nat5 work already, so it would be worth getting revision guides for the subjects your girls are taking and look at them over the summer - the Bright Red brand seems to be good.

Do you know where you are going / which school you are looking at yet? The classes for Nat5 will already be made up in schools- in most they actually 'bump up' to the new timetable at the start of June for the whole school, once the exams are over.

They are actually very close to the deferral cut off- if they were born on the 1st Jan 2008 they would have the automatic choice of going into S3 rather than S4 I think (they would have been able to automatically defer starting primary for a year at the beginning in Scotland). If you'd consider that it might be worth speaking to the local authority to see if they'd consider that, as it would be academically easier to start from scratch in S3 than S4 I think. If you're looking at private schools it shouldn't be a problem to go into S3 (but obviously a years extra fees!)

Good luck with the move.

Agree with above responses.
Good year to move into s4.
Hope a goes OK

Ok your situation I’d ask, as a pp said, if it would be possible to go into S3 rather than S4 in Aug - some of the nat 5 courses may have been covered in S3.

Because of the deferral system December born kids tend to be the youngest in the year - there will be a handful of non-deferred Jan/Feb kids but potentially not many and there will be kids almost a whole year older who were deferred the year before. It means eg learning to drive etc comes that much later than their peers so going into S3 and being amongst the oldest in the year might not be a bad thing.

Thanks everyone for some brilliant and easy to understand advice. We haven’t chosen our area for definite but are looking at Lenzie as a possibility as my sister lives in Stepps. I think going into S3 sounds like good advice. I think they need a boost in their learning!

So the first time I have used mumsnet has been pretty successful. I’ve felt empowered to submit a Placing Request for a secondary school. Good start! My next concern is whether my girls will make friends easily. They were born in Scotland but we moved when they were 3 so they now have quite a neutral English accent. Somebody told them that they’ll probably have a hard time because of their accent in Secondary school. I’ve told them to just be themselves, be friendly, (they do like a laugh!). But one of the twins is very shy and is extra worried about having a hard time. Surely things have moved on these days with children accepting each other?

Others may have other experiences but I don’t think it will be a problem - definitely not at the high school local to where I am. Good luck with your placing request.

I know kids at Lenzie Academy and it seems like a really welcoming school. My nephew is there and doing really well.

Personally I would go for S4 entry. I don’t know any December born girls who’ve deferred - maturity wise they will fit in far more with S4 than they will with boys born potentially in Feb 2009 in S3! DS is early Jan 2008 and is going into S4. Someone always has to be the youngest and he’s found it fine.

You’ve had some good advice so the only thing I’d add is how the holidays and new terms work. Schools usually close at the end of June and return mid August. But, the exams take place in April/May so the transition to the next year begins in June.

Here are the deferral stats that might help you decide what’s best for your girls. This covers deferrals up to 2018 - the trend is upwards but you could probably work out what the stats are for the years groups you are looking at.

www.gov.scot/publications/deferred-entry-primary-school-statistics/

Certainly sounds encouraging, thank you.

I have a Dec 07 son going into s4 this year and he’s fine- but I think it seems a lot to move into a new school, catch up with all the work they’ve not covered (esp if they miss the start of the courses in June), make new friends and be ready to sit national exams all in one year. Going into S3 would give them some breathing space to settle in first- I’d give the school
a ring and see what they advise.

I’ve no experience of Lenzie but even in our fairly small town there’s a fair scattering of non-Scots who all seem to have settled in fine (English / EU / American and Ukrainian in my sons year). I suspect they’ll pick up the accent again fairly quickly!!

Good luck!

Thank you. I think I’ll call Lenzie next week to ask for some advice re S3/S4. You’re right, it is a big move and a big ask for my girls so I want to get this right!

I’d suggest S3 entry if you can. Gives them a year to settle, make friends and learn how to pass exams the Scottish way (it is different from England). I have 2 kids with December birthdays. I tried to defer the first one when he started school but wasn’t successful. It means he will be 17 when he leaves school and if he goes straight to university will have a whole term of being 17 (& therefore not able to drink even in the union). My daughter is now deferring.

I’d aim for S3 too. S4 is an important one, and learning a new curriculum while making pals and getting used to new routines will be hard, it’ll give them a bit of breathing room. December deferrals aren’t uncommon in Scotland (I know England feels differently about deferral).

I think if I can defer I will, I’m beginning to realise how much is going to be involved and I want the girls to have a fighting chance! Thanks everyone

Yeah I'd aim for s3 too.

Can I ride on which year my son will be? My son was born on 14 Feb 2011, is he going to study in S1? (I am new to Scottish education system) Thank you.

Hi @Rocy - he’ll have a choice of P7 and S1 as he’s born close to the Scottish end of February cut off (so he’s either going to be amongst the very oldest or youngest).

I'd highly, highly, highly recommend you defer and he starts P7. If your child is born in either Jan or Feb you can defer- most these days do, so much so that some authorities are considering an end of December cut off.

My DS3 is Feb born and it was a total no-brainer as soon as he was born that he would not go to school as the youngest, but as the oldest. He's now 10 and best decisions ever. Good luck.