Relocation Melbourne to UK

[Bexter76]

Hi all, we've been living in Melbourne for 7 yrs with 3 kids, now aged 14, 12 and 7. We're talking about a possible return to the UK next year and want to live near family who are in Godmanchester and Houghton (near St Ives). We need to be close to an excellent secondary and primary school, would consider private secondary. We lived in London prior to our move in 2016 so know nothing much about these areas. Keen to be somewhere our older two have plenty to do but also safe with as low crime as possible. They play football and netball and spend alot of time at the beach so need a sporty area which offers options for entertainment too. Hubby will probs have to travel to Lonfon 3x a week for work.We're aware cost of living is high and going up so to make the numbers stack up we'd need a small or no mortgage, maybe a budget of around £1.1m, on a 4 bed house. Can anyone suggest an area that ticks our boxes?

St Ives is nice but difficult to commute to London.

St Neots and Huntingdon have direct trains to London but schools aren't great and they're quite rundown as towns.

Bourn in South Cambs is a lovely village with an outstanding primary school and in the catchment for Comberton Village College which is also outstanding. Its a 15 minute drive to Royston which has direct trains to London. Plus its next to Cambourne which has loads going on for young people.

When does your 14 year old turn 15?

You will need to be careful on Secondary schools.

Current 14 year olds will be going into Y10 in September with GCSEs in Spring of Y11.

You really need to be moving them either this summer to start Y10 or delaying until they are Y12 and going into 6th form. Most schools won't accept children into Y11.

If they have literally just turned 14, your best bet would be to have them repeat a year and start in Y10.

The ages of your kids make this very difficult. The school years in Australia mean your kids are probably a year behind their peers in the UK. I'm not sure, I personally think you've left it too late and will screw up the oldest kids education.

With the option of private schooling, there are solutions, even if there isn't a state school that will let them start at year 10. Private schools are sometimes more flexible about which year group they go into. Some of the private tutorial colleges in Cambridge (eg Abbey, CATS) offer a one year/18 month GCSE programme, aimed at those arriving new to the country.

But your starting point might need to be looking at what the options are for the eldest.

There's a few private schools in Bedford which comprise single sex / co-Ed / selective / non selective education plus fast trains to London.

The villages north of Bedford or towards the Huntington area could be possibilities.

OP, you might want to read this thread in Education, whilst the poster is based in Sydney and hasn't lived in the UK and her ds will be 15 it does cover some of the complexities of moving a dc when they are 14 or 15 (plus uni but if your dc has a uk passport Im guessing the uni funding issue will be clearer).

Pls explain the UK (high) school system to a foreigner | Mumsnet

Thx for responding. My son is 15 in Sep 23 so has defo missed yr10. I'm coming to the conclusion that we may need to wait until 2025 and go straight to 6th form OR it's too late full stop! This is a BIG conversation my husband and I are currently having. My dtr will be 14 in June 2025 so this could potentially work. They attend a private school in Melbourne so hopefully not too behind. We are in a quandary as don't want to get 'stuck' here once the kids establish partners/families of their own but the timing is pretty dire.

It's so tricky to even move schools in the U.K. during years 10 and 11 that a trans continent and educational system move is immense.

The uni application system needs to be considered too because if you are a home student your application choices are driven by the grades predicted by your school / college or the grades gained post A level exam.

Your son would be going into Y10 in Sept. So it's technically not too late if you move this summer but he will be one of the oldest in his year so you have no chance of repeating the year really and I understand Australias system is a year behind. He will likely find it really difficult to go straight into GCSEs and many schools start GCSEs in Y9.

I think if you definitely don't want to stay in Melbourne I would move this summer otherwise it'll be too late. Going into Y10 isn't the end of the world. Oldest needs to be in UK for 3 years before Uni applications to get home fees status so unless you can afford international fees for him, you need to move now, not at 16.

This year isn't an option as we're in the middle of building a house and not 100% certain the move will happen. These conversations are gold in helping us navigate the paths open to us. My older two don't want to return so that's a whole other issue to deal with...

Op, if your two oldest aren't keen on moving, and you can't move this year, just accept it's not an option until they're all done with education. Even thinking of moving for sixth form, I think I would hate you for the rest of my life if at 14 or 16 you moved me across the world, from a buzzing city like Melbourne to the back end of nowhere in the Cambridgeshire. Genuinely, if they don't want to move now, I think your kids would become depressed if you did this.

hi op. We live in godmanchester and have done since we moved back from sydney in 2006. Major differences being that i was pregnant with DC 1 then and had only been in oz 18 months. Picked Goddy because of easy transport into London, but it was a slog of a jouney even then and i worked 15 minutes walk from kings cross station ( it can take an age to get across london depending on work location) Many folk do commute though.
House wise here, we are in a new build worth 500k and its a 4 bed detached. You can get a lot more for your money if you buy older property. As you get nearer Cambridge thats where your 1m budget comes into play.
The nearest secondary to us is Hinchingbrooke - they actually begin GCSEs in Y9. My eldest starts 6th form there this Sep.
I dont think there is a huge amount of sports here. There is stuff happening but its hardly a hive of activity. Again Cambridge way may be better for that.
We have chosen to stay here because we love it - feels villagey but it may not be what you are after. My two know no different but I doubt they will stay here when theyre older.

I think that ship has sailed OP. Your two oldest are two old to force through a move. Their quality of life would go down significantly. I think you have to wait until they are through school now.

Even thinking of moving for sixth form, I think I would hate you for the rest of my life if at 14 or 16 you moved me across the world

I have first hand experience of somebody who did exactly that a couple of years ago. Straight into sixth form but had to delay starting uni a year for the funding requirement. Accepted an Oxbridge scholarship and is thoroughly enjoying life.

They don’t hate their parents.

Your older kids are old enough that, even if you uproot them for the end of their schooling, they may opt to return to Australia as adults anyway. If what they love is the beach, Cambridgeshire is not going to cut it!

I guess this is one of the things it's hard to think through when relocating across the world.

Not clear exactly what year your 14 year old would be in, depending on exactly when their birthday is, but agree this isn't a good time. Basically you really don't want to be moving a child in the GCSE years or in the A-level years.

The GCSE years are years 10 and 11, a child enters year 10 if they turn 15 from Sept 1st to August 31st of that year. The A-level years are 12 and 13 and a young person enters year 12 if they turn 17 from Sept 1st to August 31st of that year.

Private schools might be happy for a child to enter in the 'wrong' year e.g. to start year 10 when they are older than usual.

So this is tricky - if you can't move for a year then you've missed the boat for your 14 year old to move for their GCSE years. Could you move for your now 14 year old to go into sixth form and your now 12 year old to start GCSEs, so in about 2 years?

ah, sorry missed the update about your son. so he's old for his year and if you can't move for a year then he'd likely be too old for year 10 and I think your suggestion of moving for when he starts sixth form is correct.

Well yes. Obviously it's not going to be the experience everyone has, hence why I said I would hate my parents.