EDUCATION


Leaving the UK Culturally and historically, UK boarding schools have been a brilliant education route. This year, we have seen many more


families consider boarding schools on an equal footing with day schools. After all, UK boarding schools are already geared up to look after children whose parents are overseas, and they are world renowned, both academically and for their pastoral care and proxy parenting. Given the right fit between child and


school, many excellent boarding schools are often able to find places at short notice, though they may not advertise this. Nevertheless, it’s good for parents to be


prepared well before an application may be necessary. Our general advice is to make time to visit the schools as early as possible. A visit to a boarding school needs planning and is not something people want to be slotting in at the same time as wrapping up life in the UK and finding a home abroad. An education consultant can save time


here, by speaking with the family, meeting the children, and conducting an academic assessment, face to face or online. He or she can then recommend options that suit the child’s needs and fit with the family’s ethos, and advise on a shortlist of two or three (rather than six or seven) schools to visit. It is vital for at least one parent to visit


a shortlisted school; ignore anyone who says otherwise. This will give you a gut feeling (as when you view a potential new home) about whether your child would be happy there or not. Some parents will want their children to


accompany them to the new location. These parents usually choose an international school or a British school with an overseas partner operation, such as Malvern College Hong Kong or Dulwich College Shanghai. Along with Paris, Dublin and Frankfurt,


Transitional tuition Transitional tutoring is a great solution for helping children to settle in to a new country and a new school. It can be short term or last for a full academic year. The precise offering depends on the child and the family, as it is totally bespoke, but it generally includes language and cultural, as well as curriculum, preparation. Such tutoring is not used because children are struggling, but to help them


hit the ground running – because even where the new school follows the British curriculum, students may well be working through it in a different order, or with different emphasis. It’s possible to take advantage of transitional tutoring online, via FaceTime or


Skype. Maths and English are particularly easy to study long distance, just requiring a strong and reliable internet connection and an experienced tutor who will show a child the best platform to use to ease communication. I’ve seen time and again how such tuition improves the chances of children


making a successful transition to a prestigious school, and, in turn, allows parents to focus on helping the family settle into their new neighbourhood.


Amsterdam is a key potential Brexit path location and likely to be a major beneficiary as financiers look for a new home in the EU. Again, an educational consultant can offer plenty of advice.


Entering the UK Although we have recently experienced situations in which families planning to relocate in the UK have cancelled their plans in the light of Brexit, others may have no choice but to continue. In these cases, we can help prepare


the way for the children by providing transitional tuition (see box above). We can also arrange for children to take mock exams and learn interview technique from a London prep-school headteacher, to help prepare them for entrance examinations. Though many schools don’t advertise the


fact, there are often places for families moving to the UK at a time other than the start of the academic year. These are known as occasional places or chance vacancies. A well-connected consultant can provide the lowdown.


Advice for HR directors Many businesses will have more than one employee needing to uproot and relocate a family. While it can be useful to use one agency for all employees, it’s important to establish that the agency has the necessary capacity, as small set-ups may struggle to deal with the workload. Even where you may allocate a ‘batch’ of employees to an agency, don’t expect to


find a one-size-fits-all solution. All children are different, and need careful placing. Parental expectations will be different, too – particularly in the case of London- based parents, who may be used to cherry-picking different schools for three or four children rather than enrolling them all at the same local school Be wary of consultants who work with schools on a commission basis, as their


advice will not be impartial. It’s better to choose a company that charges the company or the client and takes nothing from the school.


Moving within the UK Domestic relocations are frequent, too. Here again, it’s great to support employees by including help with children’s schooling as part of the relocation package. Most recently, HSBC offered this help


to staff relocating from London to its new headquarters in Birmingham. Other popular relocation points outside London include Cambridge and the South West.


University students Although university applications seem a long way off for families with primary-age or prep-school-age children, it’s important to think ahead. Following the introduction of tuition


fees in England, increasing numbers of families began to consider US universities. This year, international families are also considering further education in mainland European locations, particularly Germany, where there is good, free university provision. But applying to universities in the UK, the


US and Europe involves negotiating three different university systems and is a huge amount of work – a big ask for the typical 17-year-old. We always recommend that students


explore as many options as possible and use the support offered by their schools. But this can often lack the personal focus, and it may be useful to include an educational consultant in the process. While many schools will be completely


on top of an Oxbridge application, they are often less au fait with the top universities in Germany or those in the US that are outside the Ivy League.


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