Moving to the UK year 10

[Culdesac7]

What should be done about our daughter, who is moving from the US to UK this summer and has already studied what I believe to be the math offered on GCSE? I’m just curious what I can expect from the school. Appropriate placement? Or repeating everything again? Thanks!

I have a school place based on a Transfer of Residence letter, proof that we have asked our tenants to leave our Uk house and our flight tickets. A rental agreement should also suffice

I have just double-checked her actual GCSE certificate to make sure I'm right!

They had an odd system at her school – 6 GCSEs (plus ICT and Citizenship) in Y10 and 6 more in Y11. If they got a reasonable grade in maths in Y10 there was the option to do Further Maths and/or Stats in Y11 if they wanted. I don't think they do that any more (this was 2015).

It will vary by LA. Some will look at an application on advance of a physical move, others will not. Surely you need visas in place before renting to prove right to reside. Do not assume by moving over the summer a place will be forthcoming in September, processing can take a while, especially during school holidays.

By village college do you mean a community school? That may be comprehensive ( ie take pupils regardless of ability). Is it an Academy?

Thank you! So maybe we can apply with contract and flights. Very encouraging.

Your other posts have been very helpful too. I appreciate it. It is so hard to compare. I hope you enjoyed your time in the states. There are definitely things to miss in both countries.

Bear in mind that the way they teach maths here is incremental and repetitive so topics are repeated each year with a bit more depth each time so it’s over and over again with constant reinforcement and extension. So topics are often taught every year for five years each time building a little bit on the year before . The syllabus is not as divided as in the US so maths is taught as a whole and the questions are much more problem based, so they won’t tell them which technique to apply they need to work it out for themselves. Have a look at the maths Olympiad for an idea of what top set maths is like at each level.

Additional maths ( the FSMQ) is different from further maths at GCSE, they are separate qualifications with add maths being above FM. In general marks are for method not answer, I know students from some other systems can struggle with this.

It is not an academy. I don’t really know what a village college is. I do think they take kids of all abilities. It is the secondary school that our village primary school feeds into and provides bussing to the village. Our oldest was admitted for year 7 but that was when we moved. I feel very silly for how ignorant I am.

If it’s a county beginning with C then village college is the local compressive

Yes. I did not know that was specific to Cambs. Oops

It also looks like according the website you only have to take a MFL if you wish to go IB. And further, you cannot take a MFL unless you took it years 7-9. So it looks like she won’t take MFL. Kinda bummed about that. In the US it’s generally started in high school (year 10). And it’s required for college.

Good schools, lots of extension opportunities in Cambridge and access to Hills Road for sixth form , what more could you ask . I’m not far away but I’m not sure what access is like In terms of school places etc is like . There are a few posters on here from Cambridge though who might be able to help.

@Culdesac7, if you are moving Cambridgeshire esp near an east Anglian US airforce base your dd will be absolutely fine and you will all have a great time. It would have probably helped if you had added this detail at the start. You probably know Cambridgeshire also has some of the best sixth form colleges in the U.K. and if you can get her into Hills Rd sixth form college when she is 16 then you are looking at world class options for uni - 78 Oxbridge offer this year.

Wow, that is great to hear. And no, I know very little about sixth form. I only came to a vague understanding of what it was recently. Some schools have it, some don’t?! I gather year 12 is another entry year for schools? And sixth form schools are competitive. Those do sound like amazing opportunities.

This thread evolved into more than I thought it would be. I am very appreciative of the information. Sorry if I came across as withholding. I do not like sharing so many details about my kids online alas. Even anonymously.

@Culdesac7 , yes best of luck and yes she may move again age 16 and needs a good set of GCSE results to get into Hills Rd, make sure you choose realistically achievable GCSE's - ie not modern languages because she hasn't got the basics already. She will need to start thinking about A levels in the summer of 2023 so lots to think about. IB may be a better sixth form option if it's available in the area you move to.

If the school you're thinking of is one of the Cambridgeshire Village Colleges e.g. Comberton or Impington, then they're generally thought to be excellent.

Hills Road Sixth Form College (for age 16-18) is one of the very best in the UK. There's also a new specialist Maths sixth form college (run in conjunction with Cambridge University) that's opening in 2023.

There are a lot of Americans (and many other nationalities) in the area, so your daughter would probably fit in easily.

OP I would contact the school tomorrow and see if they are likely to have a space in September. If it is a good school it may be unlikely - as others have said, living in the catchment on its own is not a way in to an in-year place.

A comprehensive school is one that admits all abilities and usually from a local area. No entrance test or fees. Often will set for certain subjects such as maths and science.

If I were you, as well as checking out where you are likely to get a school place, I would look at how your DD is at english - no idea if you do this in the US but in England he would have studied Shakespeare and done some work on lit criticism, so KS3 English books might be useful. Also science if that might be an issue.

I wouldn;t worry about MFL - IMHO (MFL specialist) it's a massive challnege to take one up for GCSE in year 10. It's not needed for A levels or university anyway.

Hope that's helpful. Some good advice on this thread tho some is a bit misleading.

Sorry for typos and she not he obvs

@clary gives loads of useful advice on these education boards, and really knows her stuff so I'm loath ever to contradict her. However, re. an MFL it is perfectly possible to take it up in Y10 and get a reasonable grade in Y11 (GCSE). DD2 did this and she's a) a scientist and b) was at a poor school. It's hard work, obviously.

Bless you @thing47 for those kind words 😁 well done to your dd. Yes of course you can take up an MFL in Yr 10 but I was thinking of practicalities for the op's dd I guess and an easier pathway as it sounds as if some things may be difficult. But yes, if you really are dedicated then it is possible. Did your dd do the new spec? As I think it is harder than the pre 2018 controlled assessment one to start from scratch.

It’s certainly not a course of action I would be recommending! (As mentioned in my previous post DD2’s school had a very strange system of doing half their GCSEs in Y10 and half in Y11). DD2 did GCSEs in 2015 and 2016, so just before they grades changed from letters to numbers.

It was just that OP mentioned an MFL is a requirement for college in the US and her DD might want to keep open her options of going to university there.

Oh I missed that. Yes in that case it would be worth a go. Not needed in UK but if needed in US then you should push for your DD to take MFL OP. In that case definitely buy the KS3 Spanish of French revision guide (CGP) - it is good and will give he a decent grounding if she works at it.

If you do push on the MFL go down the Spanish route if at all possible- it's much more useful globally and particularly for the US and there's less expectation of it having studied from back in Primary so there's a higher chance of exam success studying over a shorter period.

Buy the GCSE revision guides from amazon and see where she is.

Hi OP, seconding the idea to consider IB for sixth form if available -- DD can then take an ab initio foreign language and the Maths is better aligned with the US.

My youngest son took GCSE Maths in year 10, and that was a local school (not grammar) so some schools do allow this.
A friend moved their child from US to UK recently , and the child was ahead in the US but settled into the local school top set when here, and isn't any brighter than the others.

OP, if your child is indeed gifted, then it may be worth considering private schools also, as many offer hefty scholarships for very bright pupils. Being private doesn't guarantee it's good though. The independent schools inspectorate reports are a good place to start if you want to know if a particular private school is any good or not - www.isi.net/reports