There are a number of websites that provide a good overview of education system in the UK. Please have a look at the following:

www.educationuk.org
www.gabbitas.co.uk/
www.nfer.ac.uk/eurydice/factfiles/factfiles.asp

The various options for spending time at a British school are described in our information sheets 'Choosing a state-funded school' and 'Choosing Your Boarding School or College' (pdf format).

Please note that British state schools are not obliged to accept foreign children who enter the country unaccompanied by a parent or guardian with the intention of receiving a free education.

Most Austrian pupils who attend school in the UK go to a boarding school, which thus includes their accommodation. The majority of boarding schools belong to the independent school sector, but there are a few state boarding schools.

Information about state boarding schools can be obtained from the Boarding Schools Association. The link for that is: www.boarding-association.org.uk

Yes. You can obtain details of schools from the Local Education Authority of the area in which you will be a resident: www.dfes.gov.uk/leagateway/

In the UK, education is compulsory until you are 16 and the educational system is quite different from ours. The qualification obtained at the age of 16 is called GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education). There is a National Curriculum, but only those schools financed by the government (state schools) have to follow it. However, many independent or public schools follow the national curriculum, with a few more extra subjects. If you are not going to the UK to study or to work, your children can only attend an independent school, preferably a boarding school, or they can stay with a family if they go to a day school.

The compulsory subjects up until the end of compulsory education are: maths, English and science. But there are others, called 'foundation subjects', which are: technology (design and technology/information technology), history, geography, music, arts, classic studies (where you study Latin and its influence in how other languages were developed), physical education, and for secondary school children, a foreign language and sexual education. Sometimes religious education is also included.

If you are planning to do your A-levels, you are free to combine your subjects, bearing in mind that you might need to do certain subjects for entry into particular courses at university. For entry into medical studies, for example, you need chemistry and two of the following: physics, maths and biology.

You can find useful information at National Curriculum Online, the offical government website on the National Curriculum. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) website is also a good source of information.

GCSE is the abbreviation for the General Certificate of Secondary Education. This qualification is usually gained in 5 to 8 subjects at the age of 16, when compulsory school education comes to an end. After obtaining their GCSEs, pupils have various educational paths they can follow up to the age of 18.

For comprehensive information, please look at the Department for Education and Skills website.

At this age pupils study for A-Levels (Advanced) and AS-Levels (Advanced Supplementary) in preparation for going on to higher education. It is also possible to combine A- and AS-Levels or GNVQs (General National Vocational Qualifications) with NVQs (National Vocational Qualifications).

GNVQs are vocational qualifications that involve more practical and professional aspects of certain subjects. There are three levels: Foundation, Intermendiate and Advanced. Other possibilities are vocational qualifications such as those of the BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) and City and Guilds (modern apprenticeships).

Finally, between the ages of 17 and 18, students at selected schools in Britain can also do the International Baccalaureate (IB), which is accepted in many countries as meeting the entry requirement for studying at university.