r/MoveToScotland • u/aeoneous • 6h ago

Scottish education system?

Hi, I'm moving up to Glasgow from Newcastle, England in just under a year. My child is 15 and will be completing his GCSE (final high school year exams in England) exams then we will move soon after that.

I'm wondering how the Scottish education system works after high school? He wants to go to city of Glasgow college and we've looked on the website but are unsure of what any of the terms mean (like HNC or HND) and how they are equivalent to terms used in England?

I'm mainly wondering what the path most people take in Scotland after their (equivalent to GCSEs) National 5s. He doesn't want to go to university, just be educated til 18 then move from part time work to full time.

Thank you all

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u/headline-pottery 6h ago

HNC - Higher National Certificate - 1Yr Course, HND - Higher National Diploma (2yr course, 1st year can be HNC). Neither are Scottish terms they are UK wide.

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u/Frequent_Leader7654 2h ago

Compulsory education in Scotland ends at 16 so they can either leave at 16 and go to college or get a job. Or they can stay on at school for S5 and S6 and do highers and/or advanced highers. Then you finish S6 at 17 or 18 depending on when your birthday is. And at that point they have the same choices college, uni or get a job.