FranMidwife Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 Hi, I am looking at moving to Melbourne next year. Initially I was anticipating moving once my son finishes his GCSEs in August 2025. However looking into the school system over there, they don’t have GCSE equivalents. He is born in July so I believe he would start year 10 in January 2025 so now I am questioning if it would be better to move at the start of the school year in January 2025 so he gets 3 full years education there and just forget about his GCSEs or should we stick it out here, get his GCSEs and start late into the year in September 2025? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted July 5 Share Posted July 5 As long as he starts the last 2 years of school education in year 11 at the start of the year he should be ok. So if he turns 16 in July 2025 he would start year 11 in January 2026. It’s those last 2 years that are important. GCSEs are important if there’s a chance you won’t stay in Australia and will return to UK. You’ll want to be certain that you’ll be in Australia for the long run before moving out of the UK education system. Is there any chance you could let your son board with family/friends to finish A levels? then he could decide if he wants to do post school education in Australia or UK - keep all his options open. However if you’re certain that Aus will be “it” then he should be ok to finish GCSEs as long as he’s in Aus for yrs 11&12. Remember it’s a foreign country with totally different education systems (the states are all different) so the UK system will be irrelevant if there’s no chance of return. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted July 5 Share Posted July 5 15 hours ago, FranMidwife said: Hi, I am looking at moving to Melbourne next year. Initially I was anticipating moving once my son finishes his GCSEs in August 2025. However looking into the school system over there, they don’t have GCSE equivalents. You're right, and when you come to Australia, you'll find that the GCSEs mean absolutely nothing in the Australian system (or to employers). So making him slog through them would be a bit pointless. I'd say that even if there's a chance you'll return to the UK in a few years, his Australian HSC will be more recognised in the UK than the GCSEs are in Australia, so I would be moving him asap. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EatCheese Posted September 9 Share Posted September 9 He needs all of year 11 and 12 to be in Australia. You can move to AU before year 11/12. During 11/12 would be too disruptive. Sorry it’s late as I type so I may be out with birthdates and school years, but he should be able to do the GCSE in the U.K., then do about 3 months of Year 10 in AU which you can consider a familiarisation with the AU system, then start Year 11 the following year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.