im coming to Scotland some point soon, what should I do for collage?

I'm gonna be in Scotland in less than 8 weeks, so I was just wondering, since I'm from England, do I need to re-sit my gcse exams to get Scottish Highers or can I join a collage with my gcse grades? also, can I join mid way though a year or do I have to wait till the time new applicants can apply in September to apply?

Reply 1

xiinan

From my understanding, GCSE is equivalent to National 5s in Scotland. So, you may be allowed to join higher classes or, as you have said, join a college.
I think it really depends on the school you are applying for (if you can join mid way or not), but if you are, you should be prepared to put extra effort in because some Scottish courses differ from the English course.
Hope that helps!!

Reply 2

imxa6

Study Forum Helper

Hi! So assuming you've just did your GCSEs, you would be put into high school, not college (unless you want to go). You'd be around S5/6 depending on your age, and you would sit Highers in subjects that you picked from GCSE. Only thing is, this is probably the worst time to move - with around 3 months to exam season, I would say you'd not be sitting Highers (the rough equivalent to 1st year of A-levels) unless you are super capable of catching up to all the content
All the best, and ask if you have any more questions :smile:

Reply 3

priv606

assuming you did your gces in 2024, you would either join S5 (year 11) or you would go into S6 (year 12) as the school years start differently in scotland. in england, if you were born between august 2007-august 2008 you would be in year 12. however in scotland, in order to be in "year 12" (S6) you would have to be born between january 2007- january 2008. i dont think it would be a good idea to go straight into s6, purely because you will need that year to get your AH grades if you get conditional offers from university. in s5 you do Highers which are the exams you need to apply to uni, which is a step up from GCSE's. you can join whenever you like during the year, but you'll definitely not have enough time to take your higher exams this may. i think you'd be better off joining as an older s5 in august if you can. i know this is very confusing and a lot to take in, so if you have any more questions, dont hesitate to ask!! ps - we dont have typical english "colleges" in scotland to take a levels (advanced highers), we just stay at school. but you can go to a different kind of college for courses your school may not offer (such as makeup artistry, hairdressing etc), and your school may accommodate for this! :smile: