Americans coming to the UK with teens - help!

[ediepop]

One of my oldest friends is American, married to a Brit. They have always lived in the States and have two boys aged 13 and 12 who are dual citizens. They want to move back to the UK, but they're not sure how this work with the boys education - is it even possible to find places for a Y10 and Y9 boy? Those are the years they'd start in September.

I'm not a huge amount of help as my children are younger and I was educated abroad, so my experience of the UK educational system is limited.

They'd be looking at state schools rather than private.

They haven't decided where they're going to live yet, I think schools will be a major factor, but at the moment they're looking at Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire and as far west as Bristol and surrounds.

What age will they each be at end of August? They would make InYear applications once they have an address, some LA will process in advance of arrival but they will need to be in a position to take up places within weeks. If a school has a space in the right year with no waiting list it is relatively straightforward but quite possible they will be at different schools.

They can't apply for state schools until they have a UK address.

Initially they should contact the LA regarding school admissions

However it will do no harm whatsoever to proactively contact schools - the LA website will have a list of schools. They should ask to speak to the admissions officer & get info about how likely it is they will receive a place.

If once they have moved, they can't find a place at a preferred school, the LA will find one for them. It may not be particularly local or particularly good (schools with places in late secondary tend not to be popular).

They're both summer borns, so 13 and 14. I understand GSCE choices are made in Y9, so not sure how that would work with potentially a new to the system Y10?

I think if they do move, they will be aiming to do it over the summer, for a September start.

It might be easier to do so as soon as US school finishes and get places before UK schools finish in July. Most schools formally start gcse work in year 10 and choice of subjects beyond compulsory core of English Language and Literature, Maths and Science will vary, both in number and range. Usually a language, humanity (History, Geography,etc) plus a choice or two.

Ideally they would start school in September, there could be complications with options etc.
However, state school in my experience will do their best to accommodate special cases. I have known a student arrive at the beginning of year 11 and still come out with some GCSEs.
It will be tough so late in their school career as the curriculums are so different. (They could for example be both ahead and behind in Maths.)
I would suggest making the move ASAP, and living where they need to for Jobs or family.

Wow, this is all so helpful, thank you everyone. In terms of whether the boys will be ahead or behind, that is so hard to say, but I do know their parents went to considerable effort to make sure they go to a good school, I believe with a STEM focus, so they may well be ahead in some areas.

They will need to pick an area carefully and watch out for schools that start GCSEs in Y9 (there are more than a few).

Also look at doing some tutoring this year to catch up to where they would need to be in core subjects.

Mainly they need to decide where they are planning to move to and be aware that these are very high birth years, some councils have no places available for state schools in those years and that they realise it's not like the US where you are guaranteed a place in your local school - they will be taking whatever is available, that can be up to 75 minutes travel each way, and may not be the same school for both children.

I would advise them to do their homework before deciding which area to move to. I live in Bristol and it is very very difficult to get an in-year place in any secondary school, let alone one of the better ones. Most schools (here at least) admit on geographical proximity to the school, so if you could find a house right beside the school you would go straight to the top of the waiting list. However, there is a huge demand for rental properties, so finding any house, let alone one that is beside your preferred school, is a challenge. It's also worth saying that it is very unusual for children to move school in year 9/10 for the reasons mentioned above, so the likelihood of places coming up is quite small.

If they have the money (I realise this is a big if), the best thing might be to go private for years 9/10/11. It will be easier to find a private school place and the boys would be well supported with the transition. They could then apply to sixth form colleges and revert to state for years 12/13.

I'd move earlier than the end of the US school year (Easter holidays maybe) to try and secure a place for September, they may even slot into spaces that are already open before the end of the school year. Everyone who moves seems to do it at the end of a year or in summer and expects a spot for September, but if they are already in just for the end of this school year it'd be better.
We moved from US, after the year had started in US but in the first week of Sept in UK, we knew the local school had room as family had enquired with the head and she was expecting us.

IMO the best strategy would be to:
Pick an area with overall good secondary schools. Hampshire is often mentioned here, but you could start a thread asking for areas with good secondary schools / not oversubscribed.

Arrive in July before the end of the school term. get an address close to a favoured school or a cluster of good / ok schools .

Contact the LA and get in the system for in year places in September. Get on the waiting list for every ok school they can travel to.

Start thinking about what GCSE options they aim to take. Do research into how the curriculum works in England . E.g do they want to do triple science (3 GCSEs) or Combined (all 3 subjects but combined to equal 2 GCSEs) .

This is a good start into GCSE choices, but individual schools will have different language offers etc. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zrjh92p#zjr8s82

Keep fingers crossed!

I live in Bristol too, and you are entirely correct! I had a brief look at rental properties and was fairly appalled to see run down terraces in Stapleton going for 2k.

Okay, so they'll be going into Y9 and Y10? They need to find a place to live asap, as they won't be able to apply to the local authority for school places until they have an address within that school's catchment area. So they get their address, they apply and then they either get told where the LA has spaces, or if they move to one of the over subscribed areas of the country then they go on a waiting list and their DC might not get school places straight away. There are some year groups nationwide that are full in many LA areas, so they should call up the education depts of any LAs they're thinking of moving to and check.

As for the GCSE options, the one going in Y9 will be okay, because s/he will be able to pick options next spring, the older DC may be more constrained, depending on whether some courses are already full, but the school will try and accommodate their wishes, as much as possible. If they've been in the US education system up to now though they may struggle with gaps in their knowledge, as the two countries have quite different education systems. Personally, I wouldn't do this to my kids, but people do ...

This is the situation with secondaries in much of the country. I believe Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire are particularly difficult:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-68665716

Part of my job is to help people relocate her and many have kids and many are American.
Most of my clients use Private schools but most of them do drop back a year, the last one who didn't came from a very academic Private school in The US and coped fine. I did have one who had to join the correct year as there was no space in the one below and they did struggle
As for State schools your friends will need a UK address first and will then ahve to find a school with spaces, some State schools will allow a child to be in a different year but most won't but in any case it should be house first then schools.

Oh and one more thing - because they'll be applying for two in-year places and many schools/age groups are full, the DC may end up in different schools. Those schools may also be quite far away and/or in opposite directions. In my city in SE England there are no spaces for Y9 at all, the closest ones are in another town 10 miles away.

It really is a bad time to be trying to get kids into UK secondaries, not least because Labour's introduction of VAT on private school fees has caused enough DC to move from private to state that many LAs are really struggling to accommodate all the DC that need a place.

I did wonder, as the boys are both summer born, whether they could drop back a year. That would mean they'd be going into Y8 and Y9 which would be much better from a GSCE choices POV and would give a little breathing room to adjust to a totally new school system. Would that be feasible do you think? Their birthdays are May and August.

In state schools they're usually expected to join their correct year group for age, private schools are a lot more flexible. But I knew a kid in private who was a year below his age group and when his parents moved him to a state school he had to basically miss a year and join his correct year group. He was a child with some learning disabilities, so god knows how he coped with that.

I'm going to suggest this. I obviously don't have an inside track on their finances, but they are looking at houses around £1m (not in London) so there may be some wriggle room.

That would definitely be a better option for the kids in terms of their education and potential results and May and August should be okay if you can find a school that will agree. But again it will come down to whether they can find spaces.

If they are sporty, worth bearing in mind that being out of cohort could make a big difference in being in sports teams as there are strict age rules.

The parents need to be very clear of how problematic this could be before they make such a big move.

Oof this isn't good news, but best to be forewarned. I think I'm going to suggest that if they can possibly manage private for a few years, it'll solve a lot of problems.

We took the opportunity to push ours back a year when we moved here, but two were September/October, so even younger for the age group than summer born. Academically, they were ahead then, but not so far that it was a nightmare, especially considering there's a lot of adjustment around the edges with such a big move. It freed them up to coast a bit in school and really settle in socially.

If they're going to consider private, it might make sense to look for one that offers the IB, which is a somewhat more seamless transition, and also not a bad idea if the kids might want to go back to the US for university.

A little bit younger than your friends boys but we spent 2 years in the U.S. and my kids were very behind when we got back (and they were considered ahead in the U.S. in a top school district in Connecticut).

I would buy some CGP (or similar) workbooks to make sure they can familiarise ahead of starting in the UK for maths/english/science in particular.

A year after being back and they are just hitting their stride again and getting moved up into higher sets.

Edit: As summer borns they can be held back a year - definitely something to consider to let them find their feet.

I think difficulties with the boys education might a major reason they stay put, especially if private isn't realistic. I can't imagine giving up an excellent local high school that both boys will go to for a secondary of uncertain quality, plus both boys might not even get places.

This is very useful intel, thank you. I hadn't realised children who'd been to a top US school district would be behind here. I think I thought it'd all be roughly the same up to GCSEs, but that's clearly not the case. Very worrying for the boy who'd potentially be going straight into a GSCE year - not a year you want to have to spend catching up!