Can my daughter join year 11?

[ThePoisedOtter]

My daughter will be 15 in late November , and is currently completing her last year of compulsory high school here in Spain, as students finish secondary education one year earlier here than in the UK. We are coming to England in June next year as my daughter wants to do A Levels and go to university in the UK. My question is, she’ll only be 15 in September next year,(turning 16 in November) and too young to join 6th form, so what could she do? She will already have her GCSE equivalent certificate and I’ve seen schools accept the Spanish diploma for entering 6th form, but she’ll be too young. So for that year could she join year 11 and just take 3/4 GCSEs, the subjects she wants to do in Alevel, or would it be better for her to join a college?
Anyone with similar experience? We’re looking at state schools only. Thank you!

She can go to an FE college (you can go from 14) and do a level 2 course for a year and then do A Levels. Maybe do something she is interested in but is new, animal care, travel and tourism or something else.

I am not sure about the finances you would need to talk to the college.

She will need to have been 'ordinarily resident' in the UK to get access to student finance.

You have to declare ALL your exam results so trying them after just year 11 may mean you get lower grades. We have studied about 2/3 of course by the end of y10 in my subject, from early / mid March it is past paper practise and exam technique. The pace is faster in y11 too as the students are already in GCSE mode - mocks in November. I wouldn’t join in y11 if you want grades that reflect your ability.

@Boadicea2 Thank you so much!

Totally different area to where you are moving to. dd went to sixth form college in South West England.

It makes sense to come for the extra year as she will need to have been resident for three years to qualify for home fees at university. Many families moving back from Spain for 6th form are shocked when their DC has to take a UK-based gap year to qualify. A good Sixth Form College can help her to put together a good Level 2 programme for the first year: GCSE Maths and English Language, and a couple of L2 BTECs. School 6th forms will be less likely to be able to accommodate.

Peter Symonds College in Winchester welcomes Level 2 students.

@Lemonsole That looks great, thank you!

She shouldn't need to do Gsce's as she has the equivalent from the Spanish system.
It largely depends on how able she is and her level of English what her next steps are. Will she cope going straight into A levels.

Is it worth her doing a year getting her English up to speed. I would recommend further education colleges. If her English is good, then ask around in local 6th forms colleges and schools about starting A levels.
It's not uncommon for students to transfer in from different school systems at 6th form level. We normally test them to see if they will cope at A level. I think normally we just give them a GCSE maths paper and English language paper etc or some other suitable baseline test.

I think this is the best idea

If you're going to be in Berkshire, do apply. Many students go there from Newbury and towards Reading. Contact their Admissions office for more advice. The closing date for applications is at some point in early December -look on their website. Boarding might also be an option for you.

I'd agree with PPs that getting her written English up to scratch is important for A Levels. There's a fair amount of writing in Psychology and a lot in History.

I live near where I think you're looking to live. Specifically in relation to Charters, they do UCAS predictions from GCSE results as a starting point so doing a few GCSEs there and possibly not getting great results would potentially be worse than coming in to the sixth form with a Spanish leaving cert and a year of getting English up to scratch. One of mine is in Y12 at a different school in the area and I had some conversations about this a few weeks ago with a friend whose child is Y12 at Charters .

DD was a year ahead due to living abroad. Slightly earlier birthday than your DD @ThePoisedOtter but joined sixth form at an independent age 15 and then started uni age 17 (all in England). She had however done GCSE's internationally. I've know Y11's do GCSE's in a year at British schools internationally (and some schools who absolutely refuse) but it won't be easy to find in the UK. Is homeschooling an option for a year focusing on key GCSE's? Not having Maths & English Language GCSE's can be a bit of a barrier in the UK.

@GU24Mum Thanks! But when you say it would be better to join 6th form with a Spanish Leaving Cert plus a year of getting her English up to scratch, I’m not sure how she would get it up to scratch if it wasn’t by doing a few GCSEs…there aren’t really any other options especially as she’ll be 15 in September 2025 ( turning 16 November 2025)

I think that PE GCSE often requires getting video evidence in her chosen sports in the summer between year 10 and 11 (if they are summer sports). You would need to research this if looking at that subject.

Did you say which sorts of A levels she wants to do? It may be that redoing these in year 11 with GCSE syllabus to fill gaps along with maths and english language and literature is a good idea.

It's pretty rare to join in year 11

She really needs to check the gcse syllabus of the subjects she would take to A level. Spanish A level, for example, will include essays and analysis of literature , film and media as well as language skills so she needs to be prepared for that. Psychology includes statistics and maths so is her Spanish certificate level good prep for that? PE includes human biology which is included in gcse syllabus. What history does she hope to cover as the different boards and options schools choose to teach within the same syllabus will vary. What skills might she lack and can she make it up in the meantime or take a one year gcse to cover it?

Sorry, I didn't read everything but if she's interested in A level History and Psychology, I would really encourage her to do English GCSE, and maybe History GCSE (very difficult in a year but will learn some valuable skills) as these are both essay based, and will be very, very difficult to get a good grade with a lower level of written English. The jump to A level from GCSE is huge in all subjects so I'm not sure what level she is at but to get good grades at A level I would concentrate on improving written English, and even reading in order to be able to answer questions quickly.

I meant History and Psychology so involve essay writing at sped at A level.

If you want her to join a state school you may find that tricky. Lots will not want to take a Y11 student, especially one who speaks English and they can't disapply from performance tables.

Sorry for the cold water but that is reality. The fair access protocol is fine, but secondary schools would rather take literally any other child except one in Y11.

It may well take some time for the LA to find you a place - you will have to apply yourselves initially and fair access only comes into play after a period of time.

You need to prepare yourselves and make sure that you are back in the UK in plenty of time for September. Ideally you would want to be applying towards the end of y10.

She will also need to do a full timetable. No state school will let a capable child do "3 or 4 GCSEs". There may be a little bit of flexibility but I would expect her to be taking the same number of exams as everyone else.

I would start by finding schools that offer her a levels. I doubt many offer psychology and PE.

Contact them and ask what they advise

I'd make sure she takes maths and english language GCSE qualifications - it should make life easier in the future it you are living in uk. There may even be a requirement that she takes these

Found this on a sixth form website (that has minimum of grade 5 maths and english language GCSE for entrance)

"For any student who is not studying for GCSE/IGCSE / O Levels or International Baccalaureate (IBMYP), you will need to get a Statement of Comparability from UK ENIC (formally known as UK NARIC - National Recognition Information Centre for the UK).

This states what an overseas qualification equates to in the UK and will tell us whether you have the right level of qualifications.

Contact details are www.enic.org.uk"

This may be a good start to help you understand how the qualifications convert.

That’s a good point about A level PE being offered actually. DS eliminated a number of options as they didn’t offer it, tho some will offer a BTEC in sport/sport science. Psychology is pretty popular.

Actually tho @ThePoisedOtter Spanish A level! yes that’s a point. MFL A level is woefully undersubscribed and while this often means a small class, it can also mean no class IYSWIM. A school having offered it before is also no guarantee going forward. A lot of schools will not run under a certain number.

DD took French A level and it was the only MFL offered in her year at sixth form (out of three offered in the school for KS3/4). Two students took it btw.

And in DS2's year at the same school, only German was offered. AND it was the only school/college in the city (so out of 6 or 7) offering German A level.

Either join year 10 and so a full set of GCSEs or find a sixth form college and start A levels a year early. In my opinion she would be better dropping down a year and doing GCSEs as this would result in more successful A level results.

There is a good chance she will have to pass English lang or lit and maths GCSEs even though she has passed the Spanish equivalent. Do check with the schools you are considering if she needs those two. My daughter was in a European school system and has GCSE equivalents, but has to take those two GCSEs along her 6th form subjects.

@ThePoisedOtter I was looking for something else and found this one year GCSE course. It is a UK private school so probably not something you are considering but I thought the website might be helpful in some way
https://www.millhill.org.uk/international/one-year-gcse-course/

So many people saying maths would be a good choice when it's not one the OPs dd was thinking of. DON'T do maths A level unless you really want to and are really good at it. The step up from gcse is huge and I don't even know if Spanish leaving cert is as advanced as gcse. I'm not saying it's not I'm just saying the step up is big from gcse so any other course at a slightly less focussed level would make it even harder to transition to a-levels. Seeing that the Spanish leaving cert is a year shorter this might be an issue.

Psychology is a good option as long as her maths is decent as very few people have taken it prior to a-levels. In fact any subject that is typically only picked up in 6th form would be good. Economics, sociology etc. and then topic based subjects like history could be good as prior knowledge of the topics covered won't be required. Ironically English language may be good as foreign students usually have a better knowledge of the grammar, structure and formal study of it.
Check with universities with regards to Spanish a levels. SOME UNIVERSITIES DO NOT ACCEPT NATIVE LANGUAGE A-LEVELS.
Depends on the course and the uni but obviously this is VERY important for you to know