Dear All,
Soon I will have finished year 11 in the English school system, and will be going onto A Levels. However, I wish to do Computing A-Level, which my current school does not offer, but a nearby school does. This school is closer to me then my current school, (as in I will have an extra hour in bed close), it will mean I have friends that I can visit without relying on either my parents or the council (who have designed a public transport system that works in days, not hours) and since my current school is a public school, while this is a state school, it means my parents will have more money.

On the other hand, if I go to the state school I will be unable to do chemistry A-Level (which I want to do, though not as much as computing) and my current school has a larger budget for drama tech (one of my ‘extra curriculum activities’ is I help out with backstage stuff for productions). While I have friends at both schools, I also seem to have a sign saying “Please beat up/verbally abuse me” sign fixed to my back which took three years to get rid of at my current school. Since I believe the main causes of this were my natural fear of people I don’t know, plus my speech problems (I have a lisp combined with an accent that is best described as a mixture of Northern English, Israeli, Yokel and Posh) and I have Dyspraxia (my main symptoms are motor problems and really deep depressive swings). I have just started on the road to get therapy for these problems, so I still have them and it is more likely to be a problem at a state school then a public school.

I don’t know what to do and neither does anyone else. Any advice is welcome, and thank you for reading this ridiculously long post.

I'm not very sure what kind of advice you're looking for, but if you're asking which school, I'd say go to whichever one you will excel in best and give you a good start on your future. If you're worried about your parents finances, keep a record of how much they spend on your education and et cetera, and once you've positioned yourself in life properly, pay them back when you can, be it financially or with kindness. Not to sound cold, but friends come and go in life, especially in schooling. If I were you, I'd focus more on which school provides a better future for me over which friends I keep, if those friends value you enough, you can find a way to make it work outside of school.

I hope I've managed to help some.

Ask yourself if it's worth it. What do you want to become in the end? Software engineer? Doctor? Scientist? Game developer? Go based on that. I know it's better to have your options open, but at this stage, you might just have to make a decision.

There is another option though - one that some people take over here when they don't do well in their O/A levels; and that is it offer the papers privately through the British Council. You don't appear through your school, but as a sole individual. If you want, you could stay in your own school, but simply study the computing course at home and offer the papers at the consulate.