Relocating to the UK for year 10?

[MySparklyLimeJoker]

I'm trying to understand what are the options for entering the school system at year 10. DD will be 14 in the summer of '26, and we're relocating to a (mostly flexible) location in the UK. Top choices are currently London and Edinburgh, but I've been lurking here enough to see that the kids take entrance exams very early, so getting into a good school may be very difficult. We can go with either state or private, but prefer coed. Are there good schools that can work? She's very academic with (I think) a high level of math and science. Where in the UK would be preferable in this case? A good university in the vicinity will be a bonus.
Thanks!

In the U.K. most schools are coed.

state - you can’t apply until you have an address in the U.K. unless one of you is British armed forces or similar. Year 10 is not a normal entry point so at that point you apply to the local authority and they’ll give you a place in a school that has one. State schools that have entrance exams (mostly grammars) very rarely have spaces as no one in their right mind gives them up.

private - much more flexible. Are you after day or boarding? Standard entry points are either year 7 or year 9 but a lot of international students do move for the start of GCSE.

your daughter may be better off in an explicitly “international” school rather than one that assumes British curriculum so far - if she has followed eg American curriculum there are significant differences.

The situation will be very different in England and Scotland so you really need to pick which of these perhaps having 2 separate threads as a lot of things will apply to one country not both.

However, some Scottish Private schools will be closer to the England system.

The English system is to take GCSEs at the end of Year 11 - and although some schools teach to these exams across just y10&y11, an increasing number of schools start the GCSE teaching from y9 and will be reluctant to take a new pupil into y10. A-Levels are then studied in y12 and y13.

The Scottish system is to take Standard Grades at the end of y10 and then Highers at the end of y12. A few schools (mostly private schools) will offer a y13 to upgrade Highers into A-Levels, but scottish universities will accept students with Higher Grades so pupils can just leave school at that point. I would be very surprised if a Scottish school preparing their y10s for Standard Grades would accept a new pupil into y10 where they would have only a few months to prepare for the exams in a totally new system.

Which year group your daughter will fall into may be different. If she goes to school in England her year group will be determined by her birthday across a range from 1st September to 31st August, but in Scotland it will be determined across a range from 1st March to 28th February, so children with some birth dates will be in a different school year depending whether they are in Scotland or England.

yes apologies my post is England only, not Scotland.

I agree, England and Scotland have differs systems.

For England, most state secondary schools are co ed comps - no entrance exams so dw about that.

I would also suggest that schools are moving away from starting GCSE work in year 9, so starting in year 10 should be manageable. You may have to compromise on subjects studied apart from compulsories.

You need a UK address as a rule to apply to state and the LA has to find you a school, but it may not be your favoured one.

Agree private if feasible even for two years may be better as more flexible.

If state/England, some areas have grammar schools and others don't. If you go to an area which doesn't, then passing exams to get in isn't an issue. There are often some very good comprehensives in these areas. The next question is whether there are spaces in the schools. More sought-after schools are likely to be full, and your child would have to go on a waiting list for a place. The waiting lists are ordered by their admissions criteria - if you move very close to a particular school, your child may go straight to the top of the waiting list, but they'd still be waiting on someone leaving. You can appeal for them to admit your child as an extra - no guarantees on that, but it can be easier if, for instance, your child is already learning Latin and that's the only school in the area that teaches it.

If you do your research, you may find good schools that aren't full - more likely in rural areas where any spare places are less likely to be taken by kids from neighbouring areas.

Why "a good university in the vicinity"? If it's thinking that she could live at home for uni, bear in mind that at the stronger unis, almost all students are living away from home, and she'd be unusual doing otherwise. If you have any hopes of employment in a university, you should be warned that the vast majority are running redundancy/restructuring/voluntary severance programmes at the moment.

Thanks everyone!
First, regarding Scotland vs England - so for example, someone born e.g. in Nov 2011 would be in year 9 in Scotland in 2026?

Regarding England:
If I understand correctly, state school would be a toss up, best case scenario we live near a good school and hope a place opens up?

Regarding private vs international (I guess this means IB?), I'll need to look at the curriculums. I was thinking that in a private school she'll have a better chance of meeting local kids. But perhaps that's indeed infeasible if the curriculum is very different.

What websites do people use to compare the schools? I saw the Ofsted reports mentioned, which seem mostly academic. Are things like teacher/student ratios avaliable, or the private schools don't share those?

Thanks!

Which country are you relocating from? And how comparable are the education systems?

Very academic private schools in London may not have spaces - people don't move for Y10/11 unless there is no option - and places are cut throat at Y7.

For GCSEs, she will need to do maths, English Literature, English Language, 3 Sciences as core.

Then schools often insist on a MFL (Spanish, French, German are the most common), one of Geography or History, possibly RE and then options.

My DD's school pick options in Y8 and start GCSEs in Y9, take one in Y10 and the rest in Y11. So you want to make sure that you pick a school that starts in Y10.

Have you thought about using an education consultant? Especially if you can find one that specialises in moves from wherever you are. Transferring into an exam year is high stakes as if year 10 doesn't work out for any reason, it would be very challenging to move elsewhere for year 11.

Regarding England:
If I understand correctly, state school would be a toss up, best case scenario we live near a good school and hope a place opens up?

Thing is @MySparklyLimeJoker if you are moving for the start of year 10, you need a school space asap; and once you get one, you’d be best advised to stay there. Moving mid year 10 or in year 11 is not advised as work on GCSEs may be different (different boards, done on different order) in another school.

If I were you I’d pick an area based on family, jobs, wanting to be in a big city, whatever factors are impurtant, then look at schools. T There are great schools all over the country tho as we say, whether one has a space is an issue.

Private schools will follow similar curriculum with smaller classes and more flex on spaces.

dw about IB, that’s post GCSEs. Lots of ppl move for sixth form.

Use the good schools guide.
Student teacher ratios are immaterial compared to the complexities of finding a place for a 14 year old in the London school system. An international school would be much easier. Try Marymount or ACS Cobham / Hillingdon.

Thanks a lot everyone! I'll go do some more research.. Thanks for the pointers for the international schools, it seems that would be much more manageable.

OP I think you should pop a separate post on Scotsnet to avoid getting incorrect advice like this about the Scottish system. It is very different to the English system.

A child born November 2011 would most likely now be in S2. Moving to S3 in August 2025 and S4 in August 2026.
The Scottish school starting age is more flexible than England so there may be some Nov 2011 babies a year behind this - currently S1. That might give you some flexibility on moving but that would be school/local council dependent.

While school starts in August (not September) most state schools begin the syllabus for the next year in June. So anyone arriving in August will have already missed early material.

Pupils sit National 5 qualifications in April/May of S4.
Some schools begin working on Nat5s at the beginning of S3 so it would be very difficult to join midway through.
Other schools do fewer Nat5s in S4 only so you would need to speak with potential schools to understand how they structure their Nat5 teaching.

In S5 pupils sit Highers, and most Scottish universities base their entry requirements on Highers.
In S6 pupils may sit Advanced Highers or more Highers. They need Advanced Highers for entry to English universities and medicine/dentistry etc.

There are some private schools which teach the English system -GCSEs and A-levels, but most local private schools teach the Scottish system.

Thanks! I wasn't aware of Scotsnet, I'll read there a bit and then repost.
Do you think the lack of space issue in state schools is as bad in Edinburgh as in London, or it's hard to compare?

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/scotsnet/5325734-high-schools-in-edinburgh?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share

Some Edinburgh schools are well over capacity but it is hard to compare with London because the allocation system is so different and the number of schools to chose from obviously much smaller.
This current thread in Scotsnet might be a useful place to start

Thanks!

My DD moved to a top London private school in Y10. Things happen and so I think you would find spaces.

If your DD is summer born, and so only just 14, you could see if it would be possible for her to go into year 9. Summer borns were allowed to defer a year, by request. That would give her a chance to get used to the UK system before she starts GCSEs. Although moving for y10 is possible, I think it would be a big challenge to start GCSEs having come from a different system. My DD had missed science content that had been taught in y9, but she was able to catch up.

London private schools have occasional places and you need to get in touch with them. This is mainly due some family relocation for work so they don’t have it on their website but do email directly admission office with current curriculum and report attached of DD.
If offer a place or school internal exam, ask for next year, Y10 curriculum and what was covered in Year 9. Use Exam ninja website they sell bundle of books for UK school year and cover the missing parts over the summer. They have 10 mins study book or guide.
goodschoolsguide.co.uk, as mentioned by @tennissquare

@MySparklyLimeJoker You might not get a space in any London school near where you might decide to live. Private or state.

I had friends seeking a place for a DS from South Africa. In the end he went down a year. So started in y9. This was quite common in my DDs school too, it would be significantly easier to talk to a private school about starting in y9. The advantage of this is allowing her to have an extra year to get used to the curriculum before the exam syllabus kicks in.

My DDs old school is weekly boarding. This type of school around London can really be a good shout in your position and they have international students. Truthfully we don’t have that many international schools here.

Lastly you will find it difficult to get into an academic school without going through the full selection process. Especially one starting in y9 (13) that is co Ed. You do need to start sifting schools and deciding where to live.

Thanks for all the perspectives, I really appreciate it!

We moved our child at year 10. Talkeducation.com is better than GSG. Their reviews seemed more accurate

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/schools-admissions-applications-from-overseas-children#processing-school-applications-from-parents-moving-to-england

You can apply from abroad for a place at a state school in England. However, what you can't do is any now for a place only to be taken up in the academic year 2026 / 2027. An application now would be for an immediate in-year place in year 9. If you want a place in year 10 in September 2026, most places will only allow an application from the beginning of the second half of the preceding summer term at the earliest

In some areas, there are state schools which only start at year 10 (UTCs / Studio schools), for which you would be able to apply in the 'main round' period of this calendar year (from September, deadline for on time applications 31st October).

Unfortunately, applying isn’t the same as getting a place.

A friend of a friend relocated back from Texas a few years ago and put their children into an international school in Surrey called TASIS - they've since left for uni but they were delighted with the transition and school experience on the whole @MySparklyLimeJoker

@MarchingFrogs "the beginning of the second half of the preceding summer term at the earliest" - so summer 2025? Regarding UTCs - I've been reading people aren't very happy with those.. Would a good Ofsted rating at a UTC be enough of an indicator?

@Everleave Thanks! Good to hear they liked TASIS! We're looking at TASIS, ASL and ACS at the moment.

UTCs are a bit of a failed experiment overall, but that doesn't mean that there are no good ones. When you know where you'll be living, you could look to see if there is one. Everyone being a new starter would obviously be helpful in terms of course coverage, and they are sometimes undersubscribed (although that means limited budgets as funding is per child). They tend to have particular specialisms though - maths, performing arts, engineering...