# UK to NZ with older kids



## kiwigirl70 (Jan 6, 2014)

Hi
We are hoping to return to NZ towards the end of the year after nearly 10 years in the UK. Our eldest is doing her IGCSEs in the summer and would then do IB after that if we were to stay here. 
Does anyone have experience of moving with teenagers? I'd be keen to hear how the transition was and how senior schools and NZ qualifications compare to the UK. 
Thanks!


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## moggy (Apr 20, 2014)

our 16 year old had just finished his gcse's in the uk when we moved to nz, he was granted a student visa which entitles him to go to secondary education here, not college. He has found the schooling to be frustrating because they have to redo work that he has already done in the uk, and felt he was not achieving anything.
The schooling is well behind uk levels. It was hard for him to make friends, because most teens already have friends that they have grew up and went to school with. he has felt lonely and being a hormonal teen does not help.
He has now decided to return back to the uk and stay with his grandparents so he can enroll at college, which is very upsetting for us as we have to stay here to finish a work contract.
you need to think very carefully before you make a decision, we feel we should have let him finish his full education in the uk before we moved him out here.
This is just our experience, some people settle and some dont.
Good Luck


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