[colandros]

If all goes to plan we should be moving to nz in the late spring /early summer.
My eldest son who is 17 will be at the end of his first A level year.
Would it be possible for him to find somewhere in nz where he can continue with his A'level studies for the final year instead of doing the nz qualifications?

[gil]

My answer to your son's specific circumstances has to be "don't know".

It depends what Board he is doing. My daughter is doing Cambridge International exams here, so will be starting AS next academic year in February. As far as I know, that is the only way you can do A levels here.

The other option is the NZ NCEA, which you may prefer not to embark upon because of the lack of continuity. However, he may be able to get credits from his studies to date that would apply to the NCEA upper levels.

My suggestion would be to contact a/some school/s in the area you are heading for and talk to them directly, either by email or arrange a phone call (would mean an unearthly hour for you, possibly).

Trouble is, schools finished on Thursday this week and have the long hols now, with term starting on Feb 7 2008 for most. School admin staff may be back by end of Jan though.

http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=14469&highlight=Cambridge
This link will take you to a thread showing which schools offer the Cambridge exams.

All the best,

Gil

[nickydwuk]

Hi - I may not be able to answer your specific question but my son would have just finished his GCSE's when we arrive in NZ (Sept 2008). I have contacted the various colleges, universities, polytechnics and other forum members and the general advice for my son would be to NOT take yrs 12 & 13in NZ (ie no NCEA's) but to sit a foundation course at collge/uni or polytechnic which would give him the required qualification to start his degree course at Uni. I also contacetd NZQA and they gave similar advice although they did not discount him taking yrs 12 & 13. How it stands if your son has completed 1 year of his A levels is another question. I would suggest firing off emails & phone calls to all education establishments including tertiary ones to see what would be the best options.

Good luck ;)

[minnieuk]

Your son could go directly to university and take the foundation certificate rather than complete his A levels. I have been in touch with various people in NZ to try to establish the best route for my son. He is currently taking GCSEs in the UK and we were hoping to go to NZ next September but may be delayed until the following year.

I was told if we go out next year he has the choice of either going to High School and taking his year 12/13 as normal to take NCEA but Christchurch university strongly recommended that he didn't do that but went directly to them and took the certificate. The International students officer there was very helpful. This works out well for us as my son can take the certificate with just GCSEs or if we are delayed a year he can do the first year of A levels - get his AS levels - and then still go to university and do the certificate.

It wasn't possible for him to continue his A level studies in NZ mainly because of the subjects he is taking. If your son is taking Maths and English (and some sciences I think) then the Cambridge A levels cover these but they don't have a very wide subject variety.

I don't know where in NZ you are planning to move to but it is well worth contacting the university with your sons details and asking for advice.

[gil]

Just another thought: we may all be assuming that he wants to go to university here in NZ. Is that the case? If so, then some great advice above. If not, he will need to achieve some form of qualification that is accepted in his country of choice.

Gil

[colandros]

Thanks all, some options there we werent aware of.
I didnt realise he could go straight to uni, we shall investigate further.
we are heading to hamilton(all being well) and we know there are good uni's in the area.

[Tomsk]

Hi, sorry, just hi-jacking this thread slightly because I'm very much in the same position. My 16 year old is sitting his GCSEs June 08, and then we're flying out to NZ on the first available flight after his last exam! I've been debating education options for him, but didn't realise about the Foundation courses in Tertiary education. I will definitely explore this, but of course the schools and colleges are all closed over there. What are the main benefits of Foundation courses rather than NCEAs?
My son is a bright boy, but inclined to be lazy and directionless, he simply doesn't know what he wants to do career wise. I think he's capable of university study, but he doesn't know if that's what he wants. He's keen on the idea of NZ, but becoming more reluctant to leave his girlfriend here as time goes by. So for me it's important to make decisions about his education which will leave him with recognisable qualifications in either NZ or UK and which is broad enough to allow him a range of educational/career choices.
Provisionally (in so far as I can pursue school applications without seeing the school, nor the school meeting the student) I have had a positive response from Rotorua Boys High School for Seb to take AS levels in Maths and English there............ but the rest of it is an unknown quantity yet.
Would Foundation courses be a better alternative?

[nickydwuk]

My son too sits his GCSE's in June 08. He is not going on to 6th form here to do A levels. If we stayed he would be going to college to do a diploma in computing. So finishing years 12 & 13 in NZ would not be much use to him. I have contacted some of the universities & colleges in Chch and they have advised he take the foundation course (6 months) then onto University. Here in the UK he would not consider Uni as he would not be studying A levels. What are your son's plans if he stayed in the UK? We used this as a basis for what ours could do in NZ.

[Tomsk]

What are your son's plans if he stayed in the UK? We used this as a basis for what ours could do in NZ.

That's my problem............he simply doesn't know:( . If we were staying here he would have gone on to do A levels, but more from a lack of any desire to do anything else than a desire to continue with study. I don't actually want to push him in any direction of my choosing, however I'll be behind him kicking all the way if necessary to make sure that he does something rather than drift aimlessly. I'm wondering if a Foundation course might be more interesting. I guess it's down to more teenage interrogation and researching all the educational opportunities over there.

[nickydwuk]

As you will be arriving at the end of the UK school year your son will have nearly 6 months before the next academic year in NZ. Plenty of time to visit the colleges, universities and schools to get an idea of what he wants. Maybe doing years 12 & 13 in NZ would be a good starting point as he would get an overall education in a number of subjects in the kiwi style. This inturn may help him realise where he wants to go afterwards. If you know the area you will be settling in you could contact some of the schools (or check out their websites) to see what subjects they offer for his age group and what they suggest. I know this was a sticking point for my OH. He did not want to compromise our sons education by moving so I had to get all the information and go through it with my son before my OH was happy.

[MaxG]

Really useful thread, this. My younger daughter is sitting her Standard Grades next summer (the Scottish equivalent of GCSE), and will head for NZ with her mum and sister after that (I'll already be there). She knows what she wants to do at uni (Law).

[mgf]

Great thread. My oldest daughter 17 has completed OGT( Ohio Graduation Test) in the states and I was wondering if that would be equivalent. It would be great if she could start at Uni.

[gonzo]

Whilst not strictly relevant to this thread the following may be of interest to any one coming to NZ with PR from the UK with children approaching tertiary education.

We have been in NZ for two and a half years and my eldest son has just finished secondary school in Wellington, whilst we are still awaiting the results from the examinations and scholarship papers he has taken the likelihood is he will have done outstandingly well (he was awarded the headmasters prize for academic excellence) for his year.

My son has been pondering returning to the UK to go to university (the science course he wants to take is not offered in NZ)- we had assumed that still being British citizens that he would qualify for course fees at the standard UK rate and that he would be eligible for a student loan. This is not the case. We have contacted the local authority where we were previously resident,my mother has contacted the local MP on our behalf and he in turn has corresponded with the Minister for education and we have also directly contacted the Universities he was thinking of applying to.

The response has been consistently the same- as we have PR in NZ that is taken as evidence by the UK authorities that we have left the UK on a permanent basis and that as a consequence he would be subject to fees on the same basis as an overseas student (currently 16,500 sterling for science subjects) and he would not be eligible for UK student loans.

Just posted for information purposes really as whilst an unusual situation it may just be applicable to others coming to NZ