goingbacksoon

By content heavy i mean that the new GCSE courses are jammed packed as they have more topics for the students to study. I've spoken to one of the University's she has applied to and they recommended putting in the application for a student loan as they need more details. If they say she is eligible for domestic fees then the University will go with that ruling as well. Can't say I'm that optimistic!!

I teach at a secondary school here in the UK. We have a student in Year 10 who is a year older than the cohort due to coming back from Australia. My daughter finished year 10 in Australia then we enrolled her in a school here for Year 11 (December 2014). The downside was that she could not do subjects that had a course work component, e.g. drama. She was given a line off to focus on her studies and took her exams in May/June 2015. It was hard work, but she did really well. She is now doing her A levels at sixth form college. The problem we are now having is that she is 8 weeks short for the domestic fee three year rule for university. She may have to take a gap year, which will be OK with her as she has a May birthday so is young for the year. Don't forget that the new GCSE grades are now in (1-9) rather than the old A* to E grades. Most courses have had their controlled assessment components removed so it is all exam based assessment. As teachers, we are finding it very content heavy, but that is another story.

Also, can anyone recommend a good place to live in the Uk within a commutable driving distance of London but which also offers facilities etc for a young family to settle in (our family are in Oxford) I would suggest looking at a map of the Elizabeth Line cross rail that will be opening in 2018/19 (see link). Search for a home near this line (e.g. Reading) and it will be brilliant for commuting as you won't have to change from a mainline station to the underground.https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/improvements-and-projects/elizabeth-line. Crossrail 2 is also planned http://crossrail2.co.uk/ for SW England and Surrey.

I flew out as soon as my house sale became unconditional. I took photos of the meter readings and the Real Estate agent did the same, and I just let the utilities people know my new gmail address for the bills to be sent to.

I just posted a reply on 'Flake' thread re my experiences of getting a mortgage straight away after being in Australia for 29 years. Everyone seems to have a different experience depending on deposit size, income, etc.

I got my mortgage approved through HSBC within a week of returning to the UK after 29 years in Australia and having no credit history in the UK!! I went in to the branch to change my address and they organised an appointment straight away. I was born in the UK, but left when I was 21 to go to Australia. I opened a bank account in Australia and the UK before I left Australia. I sold my house in Australia, so had a reasonable deposit which helped. I am so happy that I was able to buy a place straight away as it would have been such a hassle to have moved into a rental and then to move again six months later. I moved back to the UK in April 2015.

My girls (both teenagers) have done the studio tour and loved it. Mind you, we all love the books and the films. We also went on a Harry Potter walking tour in London (leaving from Leicester Square and finishing at Kings Cross Station). It was brilliant and very reasonably priced. Our guide was played one of the dementors in the last movie!!

Greenford is a 45 minute drive north-east of my place here in Surrey. We live near the tri-county border, close to Hampshire and Berkshire. I bought a house at 51 in 2015 on one income without any problems and it has gone up in value in the last year. The house I sold in Australia has gone down in value according to the real estate web sites. Mind you I wish the exchange rate was so strong when I transferred the money over from the sale of the house in Australia!! It's really good at the moment, so you might gain that way even if the Australian house prices are not as high as they were.

Has anyone gone back to the UK alone with teenagers trying to start over? YES!! I did it last year with a 15 and 12 year old and it has worked out wonderfully for us in terms of school, college, jobs, and location. However aside from that you can't put a value on being close to your family, there will be 12 of us for lunch on Sunday at my cousin's place

Rocky has quite a lot of traditional style houses on the south side, and the newer suburbs in the north of the city are lowset brick veneer style. If you go to realestate.com.au and look under the suburbs of Frenchville and Norman Gardens you'll see what I mean!

I should change my user name to Gone Back!! We moved back, after 29 years in Oz, mostly because I reached that milestone of 50 and just couldn't see me staying there forever and realised that the time was right. Every time we came back to the UK it was more difficult to resettle into life in Oz. So good to be close to my mum and siblings, and my girls have settled in brilliantly. So for us it was a gamble that paid off. I sold the house in Rocky at the right time and bought a house here straight away. I don't miss the weather at all, after having had six months where it didn't get below 30 degrees and going through a major cyclone, with no power for 8 days and temps over 35!! Be prepared for a hike in the cost of living compared to the UK. My 12 month gas and electricity bill in the UK was roughly the same as for a quarter in Rocky (five bedroom house with an inground pool and 16 solar panels). You need to factor in the cost of private health if you earn over $80,000. Car registration for four cylinder car is about $650 a year. Food is expensive due to the Woolworths/Coles domination - it's worth having a look at their web pages. Houses are generally cheaper in regional Queensland than in the UK, but again it's all about location, location.

Hi Tom and Lisa - I used to live in Central Queensland, Rockhampton and the Capricorn Coast. We left to move back to the UK about 18 months ago. Rockhampton is classified as a city, but it is really a big country town. Its main industry is the two large meat works and the university. It is about 35-45 minutes from the Capricorn Coast (Yeppoon and Emu Park) - lots of people commute from there to Rockhampton (I did it for 5 years). House prices on the coast are more expensive than in Rocky. Rocky gets very hot in the summer months and it is much cooler on the coast. Not much of a cafe culture. Days out are based on the surrounding areas including the Keppel Islands and Byfield State Forest (Waterpark Creek, etc). Since we left there has been a down turn in the economy, and house prices have dropped quite significantly. I have visited Townsville several times, but cannot comment on what it is like to live there. It is a much larger city and home of the Cowboys NRL Club! Please feel free to ask me any specific questions you may have. Cheers

Hi Tom - I am familiar with Queensland teaching requirements and had a quick look at the QCT website. Here is a copy/paste of their requirements: The qualifications required for teacher registration are successful completion of either - (a) a four-year initial teacher education program including teacher education studies of at least one year (e.g. a Bachelor of Education, or a double Bachelor degree in Science and Teaching) or (b) a one-year graduate initial teacher education program following a degree (e.g. a one-year Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary) after a three-year Bachelor degree) or © another course of teacher education that the QCT is reasonably satisfied is the equivalent of (a) or (b). These are considered on a case-by-case basis. As you have an MA plus a three year education program it meets those requirements, but to make sure I would contact the state you are interested in moving to before embarking on any more study. Hope that helps

Hi Maud - we were in a similar situation. My eldest daughter completed Year 10 in Australia at the end of the school year in November and she started Year 11 in the UK just before Christmas and did her GCSEs the following May/June. Not an ideal situation, but she worked really hard and the school were very supportive. As some subjects had course work requirements it did limit what subjects she was able to do. She was accepted into an excellent sixth form college and has now completed her first year there and is really enjoying it. My other daughter is about to start Year 9 in September. I am a high school teacher, so have first hand experience of both the Queensland OP and the UK GCSE systems. The main differences are the number of subjects the students study in Years 11 and 12 in Queensland and that students are in a high school setting rather than a college. It's also great to have half term holidays instead of being at school for 10 weeks without a break!! Good luck with your decision.

HSBC have been brilliant for me - I used their International Service before leaving Australia and opened a UK bank account. It's probably worth checking out to see if that is still possible in view of what Marisa is saying about money laundering.