Can americans attend regular British schools in London? Or..what schools to go to?

I don't know what ninth grade is, but if you are 11-16 you will be in Secondary school. If you are over 16 then you don't have to go to school but you can go to college if you wish, which is sometimes called sixth form, to study for A-levels, if you want to go to university. As to whether you can go to a "regular" school in London, the answer is yes. Whomever turns up here is automatically entitled to an education, if they're the right age. Where ever you are living has a school for the area, and you would go there. Sometimes there are a few school within the area and you can choose. They are state schools, that means you don't have to pay any fees. You register when you have an address and the council tell you where a place is. Public and private schools mean the same thing over here. It means you have to pay. Again if you can afford the fees I would assume they allow anyone in. Sometimes there are tests, but you would find out criteria etc on the schools website/when you go to look at the school. As to where to live in London. The most obvious part of that is cost. There are expensive places to live in London and then there are super expensive places to live in London. It all depends how much you have to spend, and from that I suppose what type of house or flat you want to live in. Other things to consider maybe if someone already has a job, I would assume that one of your parents is moving here for work, so being near that is probably a good idea. Other than that it is availability. I mean in the east there are new apartment blocks popping up every day, but if you parent works in Hampsted or Wembley its pretty pointless being in Blackwall. Edit: Our school year runs from September to August of the next year. Its around 6-8 weeks of term, then a half term (in October) which is a week off, then another 6-8 weeks of school then the Xmas holidays (roughly 2 weeks that equals 1 whole term). Then another 6-8 weeks, then half term (which is usually the last week in Feb) then another 6-8 weeks then Easter holidays, (2 weeks and end of term 2). Another 6-8 weeks, half term, which usually co-incides with the May bank holiday (1 week off), then 6-8 weeks of term and then school finishes for that year, and you get 6 weeks off. Thats a rough guide, schools try to make it as spaced out as they can but as some holidays move (like easter) the terms are sometimes shorter one year or longer another. So no it's not year round school. In your case it would depend what age you are when you get here. If you are 15 on or after 1st Sept 2012, then you'd be in year 10 when you got here, but if you're already 15 and 16 between 1st Sept 2012 and 31 Aug 2013 then I don't think you'll have to attend school, Im not sure but that year would be GCSE year, and as you haven't studied for any GCSEs it would be pretty pointless in you going. We leave school in the year we turn 16. If your here for year 10 though, it'll be fine because you'll start at the begining with everyone else.

I don't know what ninth grade is, but if you are 11-16 you will be in Secondary school. If you are over 16 then you don't have to go to school but you can go to college if you wish, which is sometimes called sixth form, to study for A-levels, if you want to go to university. As to whether you can go to a "regular" school in London, the answer is yes. Whomever turns up here is automatically entitled to an education, if they're the right age. Where ever you are living has a school for the area, and you would go there. Sometimes there are a few school within the area and you can choose. They are state schools, that means you don't have to pay any fees. You register when you have an address and the council tell you where a place is. Public and private schools mean the same thing over here. It means you have to pay. Again if you can afford the fees I would assume they allow anyone in. Sometimes there are tests, but you would find out criteria etc on the schools website/when you go to look at the school. As to where to live in London. The most obvious part of that is cost. There are expensive places to live in London and then there are super expensive places to live in London. It all depends how much you have to spend, and from that I suppose what type of house or flat you want to live in. Other things to consider maybe if someone already has a job, I would assume that one of your parents is moving here for work, so being near that is probably a good idea. Other than that it is availability. I mean in the east there are new apartment blocks popping up every day, but if you parent works in Hampsted or Wembley its pretty pointless being in Blackwall. Edit: Our school year runs from September to August of the next year. Its around 6-8 weeks of term, then a half term (in October) which is a week off, then another 6-8 weeks of school then the Xmas holidays (roughly 2 weeks that equals 1 whole term). Then another 6-8 weeks, then half term (which is usually the last week in Feb) then another 6-8 weeks then Easter holidays, (2 weeks and end of term 2). Another 6-8 weeks, half term, which usually co-incides with the May bank holiday (1 week off), then 6-8 weeks of term and then school finishes for that year, and you get 6 weeks off. Thats a rough guide, schools try to make it as spaced out as they can but as some holidays move (like easter) the terms are sometimes shorter one year or longer another. So no it's not year round school. In your case it would depend what age you are when you get here. If you are 15 on or after 1st Sept 2012, then you'd be in year 10 when you got here, but if you're already 15 and 16 between 1st Sept 2012 and 31 Aug 2013 then I don't think you'll have to attend school, Im not sure but that year would be GCSE year, and as you haven't studied for any GCSEs it would be pretty pointless in you going. We leave school in the year we turn 16. If your here for year 10 though, it'll be fine because you'll start at the begining with everyone else.

You would be in Year 10 which means you would have like just Year 11 to go and technically in the UK you finish school after that and go onto to do your A-Levels at 6th form. Anyway yes you can go to school here :) I'm in 6th form now but at my Secondary school (basically its just middle school and high school combined we don't have them separate) but I had an American boy in my year and in 6th form now I have an American girl in the year above me and in my year now I have 3 Brazilian girls, 1 Columbian girl and 1 American girl (she's half-American and half-Haitian but has the American accent) and they fit in fine. In London I don't think you have them in America we have school league tables (ratings of how good a school is judged on their GCSE pass rate which is generally who got the most 5 A*-C grades). Just check the league tables for the area you move to for how good the school is...judge it on GCSE's which are very important exams you need to pass school basically (most jobs ask for C and above in Maths and English at GCSE level) and let you process onto 6th form/6th form college (6th form is generally on a school site combined with secondary school and is more formal such as office styled clothing or some sort of uniform, while 6th form college is separate from school and takes place on another campus not all schools have 6th forms and some may have partner 6th forms where they send kids to and are less formal such as own clothes and strictly for 16-19 years to attend) where you can do you A-Levels which are just 4 subjects of your choice which take 2 years to complete and which you do exams in (exams which process you usually onto University or you can just go to have further qualifications) or go to a 2 year college and do Vocational courses such as hairdressing. I have no idea what year-round schools are...generally we usually have the summer holidays for 6/7 weeks then a half term for a week in October...2 weeks of for Christmas...a half-term in February for a week....2 weeks of for Easter Holidays (I think you call this Spring break)..and a half term in Late May/Early June for a week...then start the Summer Holidays in July. Schools are separated by terms and each term which are the Christmas and Easters Terms we get a week off which we call a half-term. But as you get higher in school (Year 10 and 11 even though some schools do GCSEs at Year 9 now) you usually break up earlier from school to on Study Leave (you only come into school for your exams and you are supposed to have time of to revise) as you have your GCSE's in July and June.

You would be in Year 10 which means you would have like just Year 11 to go and technically in the UK you finish school after that and go onto to do your A-Levels at 6th form. Anyway yes you can go to school here :) I'm in 6th form now but at my Secondary school (basically its just middle school and high school combined we don't have them separate) but I had an American boy in my year and in 6th form now I have an American girl in the year above me and in my year now I have 3 Brazilian girls, 1 Columbian girl and 1 American girl (she's half-American and half-Haitian but has the American accent) and they fit in fine. In London I don't think you have them in America we have school league tables (ratings of how good a school is judged on their GCSE pass rate which is generally who got the most 5 A*-C grades). Just check the league tables for the area you move to for how good the school is...judge it on GCSE's which are very important exams you need to pass school basically (most jobs ask for C and above in Maths and English at GCSE level) and let you process onto 6th form/6th form college (6th form is generally on a school site combined with secondary school and is more formal such as office styled clothing or some sort of uniform, while 6th form college is separate from school and takes place on another campus not all schools have 6th forms and some may have partner 6th forms where they send kids to and are less formal such as own clothes and strictly for 16-19 years to attend) where you can do you A-Levels which are just 4 subjects of your choice which take 2 years to complete and which you do exams in (exams which process you usually onto University or you can just go to have further qualifications) or go to a 2 year college and do Vocational courses such as hairdressing. I have no idea what year-round schools are...generally we usually have the summer holidays for 6/7 weeks then a half term for a week in October...2 weeks of for Christmas...a half-term in February for a week....2 weeks of for Easter Holidays (I think you call this Spring break)..and a half term in Late May/Early June for a week...then start the Summer Holidays in July. Schools are separated by terms and each term which are the Christmas and Easters Terms we get a week off which we call a half-term. But as you get higher in school (Year 10 and 11 even though some schools do GCSEs at Year 9 now) you usually break up earlier from school to on Study Leave (you only come into school for your exams and you are supposed to have time of to revise) as you have your GCSE's in July and June.

If you are legally resident in the UK then you can attend state schools. The school year is divided into three terms beginning in September, with holidays at Christmas, Easter and the summer. The school you go to will be determined by where you live, your academic record and whether your chosen school has a place or not. You may not have much choice of schools, to be honest. The school curriculum in the UK is different from the US - at 16 you take exams called GCSEs in a variety of subjects.

Yes. You can attend "regular" schools. Just to be confusing, we have private fee-paying schools but they are called "Public Schools" (because they were the first schools open to non nobility centuries ago). We also have State Schools, which are open to everybody and are free. They vary quite a bit, especially in London. Some are very good. Some are abysmal. There are league tables to help you choose. Some schools provide education up to age 18 (A level exams) but many stop at 16 (GCSE exams). After which, you go to a "6th Form College". After 18, you can go to University.

Yes. You can attend "regular" schools. Just to be confusing, we have private fee-paying schools but they are called "Public Schools" (because they were the first schools open to non nobility centuries ago). We also have State Schools, which are open to everybody and are free. They vary quite a bit, especially in London. Some are very good. Some are abysmal. There are league tables to help you choose. Some schools provide education up to age 18 (A level exams) but many stop at 16 (GCSE exams). After which, you go to a "6th Form College". After 18, you can go to University.