SEC secondary school certificate (o levels)

I was wondering the same thing.  I have a daughter that will be 15 when we arrive (from the US) and our school system is totally different!  She is doing an online program right now,  but I read that is not legal in Malta.

Hi,

We moved here last sept and my son is currently sitting his o levels, I too was very worried but all, seems to be going well, he performed well in his mocks so we're expecting good results but he has had to work extremely hard over the six months from when school started in September to when it finished in March. He is exempt from taking the Maltese o level as he has not been here for 5 years so you don't need to worry about that too much. You are correct that history is in Maltese ( and its a lot of maltese based history) therefore cannot be taken, geography is also combined with social studies and again couldn't be taken,you  also need to be aware that the o levels are a 3 year course so your child will have missed out on a lot of work and coursework this will also effect what exams can be taken and also the final results as they wont get coursework marks. My son is only able to take 5 o levels and the ECDL ( which counts as an o level too). He is doing English, maths, physics, Spanish and computing, we're halfway through now just English and Physics to go, then we will have to wait until July for the results, if he passes everything he will do his a levels (Matsec) if not there's resits in September, although we're pretty confident he will get the results he needs.
He is in state school, I did try to get him in private but was refused by all schools as he had missed to much work, but to be honest wether you go private or state your child will still be sitting the same o levels at the same examination centres where everyone ( even mature adult students attend) so it's not possible to take the actual o level exams anywhere else.
If you need any further info am happy to help

Kelly

What age is this?  16? In the US highschool is until age 18 so I'm not familiar with any of this.  My daughter will be 15 when we arrive so I'm not sure where this puts her.  In US she would only be going into grade 10 with 2 years of school to go after that.  We don't have "A" levels or "O" levels!

Hi, o levels are taken at 15/16 my son was born in 99 he turned 16 two days ago, so all kids born in 1999 take their o levels this year. Compulsory secondary school for him is now finished, but you can chose to go onto further education at junior college / higher secondary/ ITS or mcast depending on the path of education your child wants to take. My son plans to go to uni after his a levels (Matsec)
If you want to follow the American education route you could put your child in verdala school as they follow the American high school curriculum but it is also the most expensive private school on the island it was more than double the cost of all the other private schools I contacted when we first arrived.

Hi there.... We are currently in the process of planning a move to Malta (hopefully) this summer. My daughters are 15 and 13.. The 15 year old is about to sit her Junior cert exams in June (we are in Ireland).. Im guessing these are the same as the O levels?? She only turned 15 last week so im wondering, if you know, will she have to go back to take the O levels once we are over there.

Hi,

Yes I beleive she would if she only turned 15 this year as you have to turn 16 this year to do the o levels. She would be going into form 5 in September which is the final year ( and only lasts 6 months!)

Thanks so much for your reply. She would have 2 more years here in Ireland, finishing with her leaving cert exams in 5th year.

Kelley

Thanks for your detailed reply kelly. He is not at that age yet and i am trying to plan the coming years, because i think by then he will have been here long enough not to be exempt from maltese, i guess there are tough decisions to make re a public school.. Going all the way to 16 without history/geography seems quite problematic for me...i am thinking not just in terms of exams, but for his education generally too. Have some thinking to do!

Hi raven,

No problem am happy to help just to make you aware they have to have lived in malta fir 5 years before they can take the maltese o level