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Dv lottery education requirement.

Quinn1500

New Member
I am living in the uk and did my education here.To qualify for dv lottery I need to have a us high school diploma or equivalent this means a us diploma is equivalent to alevels. I left school at 16 after receiving my GCSE. I then went to college where I did access to higher education course which is equivalent to 3 Alevels. It is seen as the exact same as alevels as I can go to university now I also studied the same stuff I would have if I had stayed on in school eg (maths, English, science). So this should be no problem on applying to the dv lottery? And would choose high school diploma. thanks for time!
TL;DR
The access to higher education course (receiving 3 alevels) should count as the equivalent as us high school diploma?
 
As far as I am aware these kind of university bridging courses are not permitted. Hopefully someone can come through and confirm it one way or the other.
 
I am living in the uk and did my education here.To qualify for dv lottery I need to have a us high school diploma or equivalent this means a us diploma is equivalent to alevels. I left school at 16 after receiving my GCSE. I then went to college where I did access to higher education course which is equivalent to 3 Alevels. It is seen as the exact same as alevels as I can go to university now I also studied the same stuff I would have if I had stayed on in school eg (maths, English, science). So this should be no problem on applying to the dv lottery? And would choose high school diploma. thanks for time!
TL;DR
The access to higher education course (receiving 3 alevels) should count as the equivalent as us high school diploma?

US High School education is the point at which an American child leaves High School and can start college (Uni). That standard in the UK is A levels, probably three passes.

As long as what you did was not vocational, and was, as you say, the same as three A levels, you should be OK. BUT it is difficult to be precise without knowing what you did.

You might also qualify via work experience.

http://britsimonsays.com/education-or-work-experience-qualifying-for-the-dv-lottery/
 
US High School education is the point at which an American child leaves High School and can start college (Uni). That standard in the UK is A levels, probably three passes.

As long as what you did was not vocational, and was, as you say, the same as three A levels, you should be OK. BUT it is difficult to be precise without knowing what you did.

You might also qualify via work experience.

http://britsimonsays.com/education-or-work-experience-qualifying-for-the-dv-lottery/

Simon, is this seen as similar to a GED in nature or more like a proper formal A levels course?
I’ve never understood why “GED or equivalent” isn’t acceptable seeing as a GED is truly high school diploma equivalent (and accepted as such at every US university I’m aware of), but that’s the rule.

@Quinn1500 , out of interest, where were you born?
 
@SusieQQQ
I was born in France but my mum If from Ireland so we moved there when I was young then went to uk a few years later.

Also from looking up information about GED It seems it does not count for dv lottery.

The course I did wasn’t a vocational course thankfully so hopefully I’m able to to apply to the dv lottery. I’m going to look for more information if I find out anything I’ll let you all know.

Thanks for your help @Britsimon
 
@SusieQQQ
I was born in France but my mum If from Ireland so we moved there when I was young then went to uk a few years later.

Also from looking up information about GED It seems it does not count for dv lottery.

The course I did wasn’t a vocational course thankfully so hopefully I’m able to to apply to the dv lottery. I’m going to look for more information if I find out anything I’ll let you all know.

Thanks for your help @Britsimon

Yup, GED is not vocational either (you can get into Harvard or any Ivy with a GED) so I’m still concerned about the path. It “sounds” like a GED type route but I don’t know enough about the UK high school system to say for sure one way or the other. I’ve copied & pasted the full requirement below so you can figure it out - the first paragraphs are not a problem, the last one is the one you need to be sure about.

(2) (U) “At Least a High School Education or its Equivalent” Means Successful Completion of at least a:

(a) (U) Twelve-year course of elementary and secondary study in the United States; or

(b) (U) Formal course of elementary and secondary education comparable to completion of 12 years of elementary and secondary education in the United States. Because a United States high school education is sufficient in itself to qualify a student to apply for college admission, in order for a foreign education to be equivalent to a United States education, it should be sufficient to allow a student to apply for college admission without further education. Vocational degrees that are not considered a basis for further academic study will not be considered equivalent to United States high school education.


(3) (U) Education Requirements: “At least a high school education or its equivalent” in this context applies only to formal courses of study. Equivalency certificates (such as the G.E.D.) are not acceptable. To qualify, an alien must have completed a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education in the United States or a comparable course of study in another country. Evidence might consist of a certificate of completion equivalent to a United States diploma, school transcripts, or other evidence issued by the person or organization responsible for maintaining such records, which specify the completed course of study.
 
Thanks for the info!
(correct me if you fee I’m wrong) From what I have read GED it is not to the stadered of the alevel course the alevel course is seen as same as doing a levels in school as you do the exact same stuff.GED only takes 3 months to compleate.
In the uk GED seems to be at the most if even more like a GCSE qualification.
Also GED is for people who drop out of USA school in uk school finished at 16 then you go on to do alevels etc.

I think GED seems to be more like what we would call a BTEC.

I will try to find out more info about my situation if I do I will enlighten you guys, anyways thanks for the help.
 
Thanks for the info!
(correct me if you fee I’m wrong) From what I have read GED it is not to the stadered of the alevel course the alevel course is seen as same as doing a levels in school as you do the exact same stuff.GED only takes 3 months to compleate.
In the uk GED seems to be at the most if even more like a GCSE qualification.
Also GED is for people who drop out of USA school in uk school finished at 16 then you go on to do alevels etc.

I think GED seems to be more like what we would call a BTEC.

I will try to find out more info about my situation if I do I will enlighten you guys, anyways thanks for the help.

No. GED is totally equivalent to a US high school diploma, like I said, you can use it to get into any university in the US. It’s not the level of the qualification that is the problem, it’s the pathway to get it. Maybe my perception is skewed by the fact that the very few people I knew who did access to HE were also people who “dropped out” of normal high school after GCSE and then went back a few years later to do access, from what you imply though it is also a normal pathway to A levels? So you actually did 13 unbroken years of formal school this way?

By the way, there is no exact certificated equivalent to the US level in the UK system- GCSE is one year short of US high school equivalent, A levels are one year beyond.
 
This is why it sounds like a GED type thing to me.

The Access to Higher Education Diploma is a qualification which prepares people without traditional qualifications for study at university....
If you would like to go to university but left school without the qualifications you need, then an Access to HE course could be for you......
There is no upper-age limit for Access to HE courses, and many don't have any formal entry requirements.

https://www.accesstohe.ac.uk/Pages/Default.aspx

Anyway, the obvious thing absent a pile of speculation here is to contact the embassy in London and ask them?
 
So I contacted the US Embassy at 2 different locations (just to make sure). They said that I will have no problem and it is the equivalent of a us diploma
Thanks for all your help guys!
Now all to do is win the lottery haha
 
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