Kali3

We returned to UK earlier than Year 9 so can't really comment on this from personal experience. However, our son is just finishing Year 9 in a UK comprehensive school so we can comment from this perspective. Of course, children are all different in their academic inclinations and personalities. Schools are different too. However, generally: better Year 9 than Year 10, and better Year 10 than Year 11. GCSE courses/coursework begin in Year 10, and it's important to view Years 10 and 11 as a block in the UK, unlike IGCSEs which I think are a year's course, could be wrong. (A friend of ours brought her son back for Year 11, and he pretty much flunked his GCSEs.) Anyway, your son (sons?) will have some time to get into the groove, and if he's a native speaker and already has a reasonable grounding in written English from upper primary, so much the better. Coming into a school like ours, your son would have to find his feet quite quickly in order to make appropriate GCSE choices halfway through Year 9. If the school operates a setting system (some set for a couple of subjects, some for nearly everything) then there might be a problem if the school places your son (because of his written English) in a low set. In our school, this would mean he would be in classes of children who aren't very motivated and can be disruptive. So my advice would be to go into this side of things very carefully with the school. On the plus side, I agree that UK teachers will be looking to help your son rather than fail him. On the social side, it could be an adjustment, as the other children will already have been together for two years or more. Depends on your son's personality and on luck, of course. Good luck!

Just to say thank you everyone for all your advice on this. I guess that we'll play safe and leave the car in France for now, frustrating though this is. I suspect any new European regulations will be too late for this particular vehicle...

OP here... now I'm confused! In answer to query, it's a left-hand drive. So it belongs in France, really, eventually. It's ten years old now so probably wouldn't fetch much if we sold it. We have a house in France although it's let now. It's true there are LOTS of foreign registered cars here in the UK whose owners are clearly resident here - doesn't this get picked up on by DVLA/police/whoever? It would be quite easy to stop/check vehnicles so clearly the authorities don't care too much although if they're not properly insured then clearly it could be a problem for other motorists.

We have a 'normal' Honda but it was bought outside EU and as a result it took us 2 years and a huge amount of hassle/money to register in France and get French plates.  Now my husband has got a job in Africa and I'm back in the UK. The car will eventually go back to France but in the meantime I'd like to drive it in the UK (I'm currently carless which is a problem with 3 kids..).  Is it possible to get insured, taxed, legal for 18 months, living in UK, driving with French plates? I don't want to do anything dodgy which is why we've mothballed car in France for the last 3 months. Strangely in my UK town I see foreign registered cars everywhere; Greek lady I know has been driving on Greek plates for years and says it's absolutely OK, her Greek insurer knows where the car is kept/driven, etc. Many thanks.

I wondered whether teenagers from UK schools find the teaching style in French colleges a little - erm - how shall I put it - dry? Would be interested to hear others' views with children who moved as teens. My kids found CM1/CM2 shockingly old-fashioned (really boring was their verdict) after their UK primary experiences - masses of uncontextualised conjugaison, unexciting texts to read, gap-fill history. We could live without the smart boards the the computers, it was the general approach they found unstimulating. On the other hand, their current UK secondary school is not perfect either - the problem there is that expectations are low, so who knows, they might have been better off in France.

Interesting debate. Moving a young teenager is probably going to be tough on them and on you but I don't think you can generalise. Whether teenagers  can move successfully or not will depend on their attitude and their ability. A bright child of 13 with a positive attitude and a helpful school (very important!) may catch up in 1-2 years. I probably wouldn't move a child with academic aspirations any later than about 13 though. And if a child is struggling in a UK school, how much more will they struggle in France. I would be open to moving them back for 6th form. If they've moved out to France at 12 or 13, their level of English is going to be good enough.

Tempsperdu - child benefit does still exist in the UK and it is fixed and not means-tested. Child tax credit is something completely different - different claim form, sliding scale. As I understand things, the children have to be living in the UK for either to be claimable.  

Does anyone know if there are any good international schools (UK curriculum) or French schools with an international section that have half termly boarding, preferably in the southwest? We are moving with a boy of 13 and it would be nice to know there is a fall-back position if French school proves too much for him. We're in the extreme southwest and I don't think he can get to Bordeaux or Toulouse for weekly boarding. The alternative would be boarding school in the UK but that's probably beyond our reach financially... We don't want to derail his education. TIA

Thank you both for your replies. Following the link I found Owen's query in May, which was the same query as mine, and I think/hope we can stay on British plates for 10 months, but will need to get new tax disk before we go (conveniently it runs out in September). And we will need to find a French insurer.

We are going to be in France for the next academic year - so under a year. Is it possible to stay on British plates for this time, legally? Would like to avoid the situation where it takes 10 months to get registered in France (we have a non EU imported car) and then we come back again and have to reregister. We live in a university town in the UK at the moment and notice that lots of academics who go on sabbatical (either going abroad or coming here) don't change their plates during that time. Also there is the (related) insurance question, SORN, etc. All advice gratefully received! Thanks. (Sorry if this question has been asked before.)

Thank you, everyone, for your advice/experiences. It's good to hear some positive experiences, even with the older age group. We don't plan to sell up here in the UK and have an open mind about the timescale - it could be a year, could be three, could be longer, depending on how things turn out, and mindful of good points at which to reintegrate into the UK system (i.e. not Year 11), teenagers' wishes, etc. I agree that it will be important to stay very positive! A couple of things I'm wondering: did your older children find the teaching style a bit formal (I hesitate to say boring...) after going through the UK system to that sort of age? And did they find French kids their age 'younger' than UK kids?  I'd actually be quite glad to get them away from the sort of pressures they seem to be under in the UK, so this would be no bad thing, but I wonder if your children commented on it.

I know it will vary from child to child and school to school, but how long, in your experience, might it take kids of 11 and 13 to start to enjoy life in France, and stop mourning their old life and friends? Don't want to ruin their lives... Academically, they're doing well in the UK, but I think it would be a huge knock to their self-esteem to find themselves bottom of the class and unable to communicate. The younger one in particular is dead against a move, but you wonder whether 6 months down the line he would actually be fine in his new life. Difficult decision!

Sorry for the delay - you can get the book either locally in bookshops or big supermarkets (Auchan in Pau, Leclerc in Oloron) or Amazon - it's called Emilie en Bearn on their website (I think it's the same book) and is around 7 euros. Other titles in the series cover other areas of France. The series is actually for kids but we didn't find many of the walks too easy... must be getting old. It's written in rather flowery French - longer on poetic appreciation, sometimes shorter on directions, but we found our way in the end. A useful feature is that as well as showing times of the walks it shows gradient, which is good if you don't feel like overdoing it. I mentioned Gorges de Kakuetta before but in fact that may be too far west. I don't have my maps/books to hand so I'm relying on my memory. I think there are some 'Emilie' walks in the high mountains at the top of the Ossau valley which will be more convenient for you - I'm sure they are spectacular (on a clear day). If the Emilie walks are too easy for you, you should be able to find lots of information on walks in that area on the web or in books. Have a great time!

I had exactly the same response in England from several pharmacies (pharmacists looking shifty, scuttling into the back room to ask) and eventually found out that it was because it's used for drug production. I eventually got hold of a stash, after going in looking as respectable as possible and with well scrubbed toddler in tow.  

Thank you everyone for your help and advice. I think that if we could get a return fare for £400-£500 that would be on a par with Ryanair and would be viable but £700-£800 return is unaffordable (sadly!). I need to give the summer holiday dates some thought now and will give it a whirl - thanks for you offer of help if I draw a blank, Kathy! Probably won't get around to it for a couple of weeks because various ducks need to be lined up. You would have thought train ought to be cheaper than plane, particulary with 3 kids. Ah well. Kali