Moving from UK to Aus mid a-levels

I'm 15 from England, before I was born my parents lived in Brisbane, Australia, they moved back to England but now are planning to return to Brisbane . Next September I should be starting my A levels at college. I have a clear idea of what courses I want to take and where I want to attend college near where we currently live. We don't have an exact time for when we are moving but it should be in the next few years meaning I could start college there, or I would be moving mid A levels .
My parents asked me to research college/ uni there and how easy it would be for me to transfer. How is college different there ? Any information/suggestions would be very much appreciated, thank you

I'm 15 from England, before I was born my parents lived in Brisbane, Australia, they moved back to England but now are planning to return to Brisbane . Next September I should be starting my A levels at college. I have a clear idea of what courses I want to take and where I want to attend college near where we currently live. We don't have an exact time for when we are moving but it should be in the next few years meaning I could start college there, or I would be moving mid A levels .
My parents asked me to research college/ uni there and how easy it would be for me to transfer. How is college different there ? Any information/suggestions would be very much appreciated, thank you

Don't underestimate the educational difficulties @lisacherian - different system, different school year, totally different syllabus and focus. And without friends or familiar culture. And being teased for not being 'like us'. We moved our daughter back to the UK aged 9 - it took her years to catch up, and her self-confidence really suffered.

Remember that Aus starts school later (6 not 5) and therefore he'd be totally dislocated from his current year/academic group. And btw, Year 12/13 Australia is not as rigorous as the UK - I know, I taught it. If you do attempt this move, my advice would be to go for IB if you can find it - at least that has some academic credibility. Also be aware that a move back to Aus would mess up his entitlement to Student Finance - and UK Uni fees - this is based on residency, not nationality.

@lisa


My advice would be to wait - consistency is important for adolescents.
How does he feel about it?

Yes this was my instinct and original plan but my partner feels like it would be good for him as he can't see much of a future for him here. He's in with a crowd of friends that are not concerned with school work and busy smoking in parks.
He's not keen to leave his friends or Bristol where we live but maybe he would adapt and have a better chance in Australia?..

Hey Amelia,

I'm from Australia! I was born in Brisbane and moved back to go to uni there. I am also a secondary school teacher and was a head a year in the Queensland education system. I'm here to answer any questions you have.

It's definitely possible to move mid- A Levels, although my very strong advice is that you get in contact with Australia schools very soon to ensure what you study in A Levels here will count if/when you move. In the current Queensland (QLD) system, high school is from Year 7 to year 12. It's divided into 'Junior Secondary' (Year 7-10) and 'Senior Secondary' is Year 11 and 12. Although unlike a lot of A-Level colleges here, it's usually in the same school, you still wear uniform, everything is pretty much the same, except the curriculum. It's a two year course and it does have pretty specific requirements for what course work and time you need to have spent on your subjects. It does work quite differently to A Levels, in that there are less exams and more course work. You also have to study English and Maths - there are different streams/levels of difficulty, but it is compulsory. You also normally study six subjects if you want to go to uni.

Uni isn't that different to here, although, as others have said above, the entry system is different. We don't have results and clearing or anything. If you want to go to uni (or you'd like the option), you sit the Queensland Core Skills (QCS) test (this is the ONLY standardised test across all year 12 students - who want to go to uni - in Queensland). It's basically general knowledge. Your result has no direct affect on you personally at all, but your cohort's results are used to 'rank' your year level against others in QLD. Because course work/exams are marked internally (by your teachers, rather than exam boards), this is how they make sure no school is being marked unfairly high or low when it comes to their uni entrance scores. So if your cohort does really well, you'll get better overall position (OP) scores than a school whose students performed at a lower level overall. Your OP score is your university entrance score.

Okay so. Basically, the sooner you do a bunch of research, the better. If the move is likely to occur halfway through your A-Levels, you'd really benefit from putting in the groundwork now, to make sure your A level choices will put you in the best position possible when you move. To be totally honest though, it'd be much easier if you started Year 11 in Australia (the school year starts in January) and did the entire two year course there.

I hope all of that makes sense and is helpful. Seriously, feel free to ask me as many questions as you like on this.

Also! Australia is an amazing place. Whenever I've seen kids come over from the UK to start school here, the other kids are just super interested in them. I know moving countries is a big deal, but of any country to move to, Australia is a pretty good choice (although, I'm obviously super biased).

Hey mate, my sister is 16 and is about to take her “GCSE’s” in year 11 which is the highest the schools education goes in secondary school in london. We will be moving to Melbourne soon and I wanted to ask how can she apply for “sixthform” or as you would call it year 12 &13 in Melbourne. Would her gcse results be taken in to account?

15 is a decent age to move. Most Australian schools go up to year 12. The final 2 years are more like ''A Levels''. You go in less depth, but you get to do more subjects. At the end of year 12, in Queensland, you will get an ''OP'' score which is the main factor for going to uni. Other states use the ''ATAR''. Queensland is the only exception.

I went to high school in Australia. Feel free to ask me anything.

If you plan to move within the next few years, that would probably make it more complicated. You could do your A Levels and apply for uni in Australia but you might have to pay international fees.

Hey Amelia,

I'm from Australia! I was born in Brisbane and moved back to go to uni there. I am also a secondary school teacher and was a head a year in the Queensland education system. I'm here to answer any questions you have.

It's definitely possible to move mid- A Levels, although my very strong advice is that you get in contact with Australia schools very soon to ensure what you study in A Levels here will count if/when you move. In the current Queensland (QLD) system, high school is from Year 7 to year 12. It's divided into 'Junior Secondary' (Year 7-10) and 'Senior Secondary' is Year 11 and 12. Although unlike a lot of A-Level colleges here, it's usually in the same school, you still wear uniform, everything is pretty much the same, except the curriculum. It's a two year course and it does have pretty specific requirements for what course work and time you need to have spent on your subjects. It does work quite differently to A Levels, in that there are less exams and more course work. You also have to study English and Maths - there are different streams/levels of difficulty, but it is compulsory. You also normally study six subjects if you want to go to uni.

Uni isn't that different to here, although, as others have said above, the entry system is different. We don't have results and clearing or anything. If you want to go to uni (or you'd like the option), you sit the Queensland Core Skills (QCS) test (this is the ONLY standardised test across all year 12 students - who want to go to uni - in Queensland). It's basically general knowledge. Your result has no direct affect on you personally at all, but your cohort's results are used to 'rank' your year level against others in QLD. Because course work/exams are marked internally (by your teachers, rather than exam boards), this is how they make sure no school is being marked unfairly high or low when it comes to their uni entrance scores. So if your cohort does really well, you'll get better overall position (OP) scores than a school whose students performed at a lower level overall. Your OP score is your university entrance score.

Okay so. Basically, the sooner you do a bunch of research, the better. If the move is likely to occur halfway through your A-Levels, you'd really benefit from putting in the groundwork now, to make sure your A level choices will put you in the best position possible when you move. To be totally honest though, it'd be much easier if you started Year 11 in Australia (the school year starts in January) and did the entire two year course there.

I hope all of that makes sense and is helpful. Seriously, feel free to ask me as many questions as you like on this.

Also! Australia is an amazing place. Whenever I've seen kids come over from the UK to start school here, the other kids are just super interested in them. I know moving countries is a big deal, but of any country to move to, Australia is a pretty good choice (although, I'm obviously super biased).

Hi!!! im thinking of moving to brisbane and im ending gcses here , and my parents want to move in summer which means id move in september, so id start school in australia mid through the year over there in year 11 which is year 12 here. do you think its a problem starting mid way year 11

Hey! How exciting you're potentially moving to Brissie. It's a great place.

I think it'd be fine to move part way through Year 11. I think getting in contact with potential schools sooner rather than later would be a good move though. Much like A-levels, senior secondary school (Year 11 and 12) is a two year course of study, so you'll be entering partway through. Might be good to make a plan with the school about how you'll catch up on those credit points you'll miss (and/or whether there's some sort of specific process for if you've enrolled from overseas - I imagine there might be). The QCAA are the people who oversea senior schooling in Queensland, though tbh it might be easier to just speak to a school. I hope that's helpful! Good luck with the move!