Relocating your family requires serious thought and assessing schooling options deserves careful consideration. Here our education consultant gives some key pointers to a family looking to leave Hong Kong and return to the UK.
Q: I am keen to relocate my family back to the UK from Hong Kong due to uncertainty around the current political situation but I have no idea of the educational landscape. I have a table tennis mad 7 year old girl and 14 year old bookworm boy. Where do I start?
A: You’ve come to the right place. We work with a large number of families from all over the world who for different reasons want to live and educate their children in the UK. In recent months, we have had a growing volume of enquiries from Hong Kong for understandable reasons. Hong Kong families are often at an advantage compared to families from many other countries in that the level of written and spoken English is generally high. There are several things to consider before you make the move. First and most obviously your immigration status. This might be straightforward if you are a British citizen but for people without an automatic right to live and work in the UK you may need to investigate your status and visa options (our team can advise on this).
Once you have determined whether your family is eligible to live and study in the UK, the next question will be where to settle. Many families choose London and its environs on account of work and international connections, however there is much to be said for moving further afield, particularly north where independent schools are more affordable and you can find good and outstanding state schools with space. Please do keep in mind that you can’t apply for a place in a state school unless you have proof of residence and house prices vary wildly between different areas in each city as well as countrywide. This can make planning from a distance complicated as you will be unable to secure a place in a state school until you are living in the UK.
The situation is different with independent schools however, and you are likely to have more choice (there is sure to be a school which would cater for your table tennis enthusiast daughter as well as your bookish son). One unfortunate consequence of the current pandemic is that schools are finding themselves with spaces to fill as families decide they can no longer afford school fees, or are forced to move out of expensive areas to release equity. This is good news for families looking for places at short notice however and independent schools are used to interviewing via skype and conducting any testing from long distance.
The important thing to remember is that there are lots of options available. One of the attractions of the educational landscape in the UK is the breadth of provision and different kinds of school, state and private, single sex and co-ed, religious and secular, boarding and day and everything in between, as well as international.
Do you want help from The Good Schools Guide Education Consultants?
Our expert education consultants can provide your family with one-to-one help on all of the issues raised in this article and many more. If you would like to find out more about our services, visit the Education Consultants homepage or to speak directly with one of the team email consultants@goodschoolsguide.co.uk or call 0203 286 6824
Need help? Perhaps you suspect your child has some learning difficulty and you would like advice on what you should do. Or perhaps it is becoming clear that your child's current school is not working for him or her, and you need help to find a mainstream school which has better SEN provision, or to find a special school which will best cater for your child's area of need. Our SEN consultancy team advises on both special schools, and the mainstream schools with good SEN support, from reception through to the specialist colleges for 19+. Special Educational Needs Index
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