Swiss to British Education Questions

Family, Education, Health and Pets
1
Heya! I have a few questions since I curvey l currently live in Switzerland and will be permanently moving to the UK in a few months so I have a few questions.

I finished high school (Sekundar) in Switzerland and I recently had an interview with the college I will be going to, my final grades in my last year in Switzerland were pretty good (5.3 average, 6 is the maximum you can get and I had a 5 or higher on all important subjects) and was told that they would send my grades from HS to be converted and if they were the equivalent of GCSEs in the UK (B or higher) I would be accepted without having to take any GCSEs or any other tests.

Now I'm not really sure if my final year high school grades would be considered an equivalent of GCSEs, so I was wondering if anyone could help me out as I would rather not take any extra tests if my grades are fine as is, as it would require lots more traveling and accommodation costs to take my GCSEs.

So basically, could I get into the college I would like to get into (B or higher in GCSE terms is required) without taking my GCSEs with my current grades (5.3 average in my last year of HS in Switzerland) would be possible?

~~Hope my English is fine, haven't really spoken it in some time.~~

2
Hi, I don't know the official answer but I looked into this recently for my child and found that with good Sek grades you can do your GCSE's in 1 year at schools such as Hull's in Zurich, but there was no option to go straight into A Levels.

GCSE's are taken after 5 years of secondary education in England. After GCSE's only 2 more years of study are needed to get A Levels, which are equivalent to the matura. Considering it takes 3/4 years after 2/3 Sek to get the Matura, it suggests that Sek/GCSE's aren't quite equivalent.

Best wishes with getting on your course anyway, your English is very good!

3
AFAIK - each english college will make their own decision as to whether to accept your grades - my opinion is that good sek grades are likely to be reasonably equivalent to GCSEs though the curricula are obviously not the same- you probably have got a feel for this by looking at past papers - good luck