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Original poster

Cultural differences Scotland and England

779 replies

CauleyMacGlochlin · 11/02/2024 15:14

So surprised to see on a recent thread that in England secondary school pupils are often not allowed out of school for lunch until 6th form, which Google tells me means 16-18. I'm gobsmacked. I've never heard of anything like this in Scotland and I've lived all over the country (grew up in Glasgow and moved around in adulthood)

I also recently discovered that English school pupils can't leave education at 16. They have to stay in education til 18 unless they have an apprenticeship.

Got me thinking about cultural differences between the countries that I've maybe been oblivious all this time. Any others?

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donteatthedaisies0 · 12/02/2024 08:11

Heather37231 · 12/02/2024 08:03

I remember being baffled by TV adverts for Mars Bars when I was a child- “Caramel, noogah and chocolate”.

However in my part of Scotland we called the ice cream marshmallow thing a chocolate wafer. I actually never used “nugget”.

The ice cream man used to come round at about 9pm and blow a whistle because it was too late for chimes. My parents would often go out to buy cigarettes or fizzy drinks from the van and sometimes my Dad would come back with a chocolate wafer as well.

Yes! I can remember we used to have a van that came round , even remember the name of the van that came round . Sold everything from dog food , margarine , milk and sweeties . And yes blow a whistle 😂.A bit like Open All Hours on wheels 😂 .

Heather37231 · 12/02/2024 08:12

This is great- if you turn on the auto-generated subtitles they call it a “double maggot”! Capocci man double Nugget

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Terrribletwos · 12/02/2024 08:17

bibbidiblobidyboo · 11/02/2024 16:37

@SummerDays2020
A buttery is the most delicious but unhealthy bakery product. Essentially lard, flour and salt. Like a flat round, stodgy croissant. That makes it sound awful but it is delicious and difficult to describe.
Best warm with butter and jam in my opinion!

Shop bought butteries/rowies are no longer made with lard and haven't been for years but instead have rapeseed/palm oil. I used to love them, especially when warmed with butter on but they are pretty awful now...pity.

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General education
Edinburgal · 12/02/2024 08:21

donteatthedaisies0 · 12/02/2024 04:10

This comes across as really silly .

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Really?! Everyone i know thinks the Scotland flag has been hyjacked by the independence brigade!

Yolo12345 · 12/02/2024 08:22

A family member down South has to pay £1k per year for her bus pass to and from school. I was appalled.

Doublenoogahsilvousplait · 12/02/2024 08:23

Yolo12345 · 12/02/2024 08:22

A family member down South has to pay £1k per year for her bus pass to and from school. I was appalled.

Oh my god!

Garlicdoughball · 12/02/2024 08:25

Out of catchment placing requests are really common where I am and most kids I know born Jan-Feb are held back to the next year, sometimes kids born in Dec as well. Not everyone obviously so I know year groups where there is 15 months between ages.

Yolo12345 · 12/02/2024 08:28

Oh and you have to have a degree to be a teacher in Scotland, whereas not necessarily in England.

And free school meal provision is universal up to a certain age in Scotland, whereas not necessarily down South.

Starting salaries are higher for teachers also (in state provision) in Scotland

Yolo12345 · 12/02/2024 08:29

@Doublenoogahsilvousplait and that was only for trace in school commute times...!! Unbelievable!!!

Yolo12345 · 12/02/2024 08:29

@Doublenoogahsilvousplait *travel

WitchWithoutChips · 12/02/2024 08:35

StopTheBusINeedAWeeWeeAWeeWeeBagOChips · 11/02/2024 16:24

When I went into a chippy in England and asked for a fish supper they had no clue what I was talking about 🤣

They also don't have butteries, but I believe that's a regional thing.

I didn’t know the Scottish meaning of ‘buttery’! In England as a noun it means the tuck shop or snack kiosk in a Cambridge college and in some boarding schools.

ThanksItHasPockets · 12/02/2024 08:42

Yolo12345 · 12/02/2024 08:28

Oh and you have to have a degree to be a teacher in Scotland, whereas not necessarily in England.

And free school meal provision is universal up to a certain age in Scotland, whereas not necessarily down South.

Starting salaries are higher for teachers also (in state provision) in Scotland

This is incorrect and I wonder where you have got this impression. You cannot qualify as a teacher in England without a minimum of a bachelors degree. There are some state schools which can theoretically employ unqualified teachers but these people are a tiny minority in the workforce of state school teachers.

Free school meals are universal for infants in England (up to age seven) and for all primary-aged children in London.

SummerDays2020 · 12/02/2024 08:49

WeegieWan · 12/02/2024 00:43

Talking of morning rolls - a well fired roll. To the uninitiated they are burnt, being absolutely black on top, to the rest of us... manna from heaven.

And clootie dumpling! Kind of like a less rich Christmas pudding, boiled in a floured cloth (the cloot). Lovely when still warm from the pan with custard as a pudding, amazing when sliced and fried in butter or bacon fat the next morning as part of a big Scottish breakfast....

I can buy a well fired loaf but I've not seen well fired rolls.

SummerDays2020 · 12/02/2024 08:51

Heather37231 · 12/02/2024 01:12

I come from a town less than an hour from Glasgow and I think that to say “pee” is rude I’m afraid!

We always say “a wee wee”.

NB never just “a wee” like English people do.

I live in England now. DS is 7 and hasn’t realised yet that his friends don’t say “wee wee” because my English husband also says “wee wee”, at my behest.

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What about pee-pee is that rude? 😂 Pee and wee are both fine to me but piss is rude!

SummerDays2020 · 12/02/2024 08:53

Heather37231 · 12/02/2024 01:21

In Scotland we often use possessives when and English person would not.

For example

“I’m going to my bed”
”Your Dad’s still not home from his work”
”We’re going to Spain on our holidays”
“What do you want for your Christmas?”

“Away” means “off to” eg
”I’m away to the shops”

And one of my favourites is simply “That’s me” or “That’s you”. It means “You're all done” or “I’m finished”.
“That’s me away” is a combination of the above.

My Scottish friend always says she's getting so and so for her son's Christmas! I actually didn't realise that was a Scottish way of saying it - I thought it was just her!

SummerDays2020 · 12/02/2024 08:57

Marchitectmummy · 12/02/2024 04:13

There are 163 grammar schools in England. It depends where in England you are as to proximity and number of grammar schools are near you. There are only 30 or so local authorities which retained them, in Kent they are very common, in the North East there are zero. Lots in London still too, and Bucks.

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We have Grammar schools in Essex. There are 4 near me (2 boys and 2 girls.)

SummerDays2020 · 12/02/2024 09:00

ThanksItHasPockets · 12/02/2024 04:21

You go to your local school. If you want to go somewhere else, you put a placement request in. You don't have to apply for numerous schools and hope one will give your kid a place.

I was thinking this - surely this is the fundamental basis of other practices relating to school, particularly being allowed to leave the site at lunchtime and children having more independence to walk from a younger age.

Can I ask the Scottish teachers on the thread if there is ever any trouble off-site at lunchtime? Fights between neighbouring schools, for example? When I worked in London secondary schools the timings of the end of the day were carefully staggered as we had a real problem with kids from other schools coming down at home-time to start trouble, and our students reciprocating. Dealing with incidents that happened off-site was a huge drain on our time.

In my city all schools are oversubscribed so unless you get a place in a Grammar school or RC school, you will get a place at your local school - no chance of going anywhere else.

Cancelledcurio · 12/02/2024 09:03

@SenecaFallsRedux aw the old Scots are more egalitarian myth eh ? From a Scot living in England - bollocks ( kindly!)Nothing electoral wise to suggest this either.

Garlicdoughball · 12/02/2024 09:06

Well fired rolls - another culinary abomination. Must have been part of a PR campaign at a time of food shortage to stop burnt ones being thrown in the bin.

Cancelledcurio · 12/02/2024 09:07

@SinnerBoy no skin on fish down here either .

SummerDays2020 · 12/02/2024 09:10

Theatrefan12 · 12/02/2024 05:16

Saying something is cringe is not being rude. If anything the comments calling people thick for pronouncing the word as “nugget” was much more rude than the cringe comment

Anyway… the whole thing around starting school is one of the biggest differences I see. All the angst you see on here about school allocation places and making sure your child is not an August baby doesn’t happen in Scotland.

The cut off time is end of February meaning you would be at least 4.5 starting school in August. Also you don’t get to pick schools, you go to your local primary (either Catholic or non-dominational depending on your choice in most areas) and that is a feeder into an allocated secondary

Certainly in my experience the difference between the schools in our local area was negligible so it didn’t matter where you went

You could ask for a placing request to a specific school but that was rare. Good thing about this was that all your friends lived walking distance from your house and most, if not all, went to the same high school

As a Scot living in England some of the other differences I see are:

  • Chinese and Indian food is not as good is at home (and I live in London so not as if I have limited choice). First thing I do when I go “up the road” is get a Chinese or a Chicken Tikka Chasni as that is not a thing here
  • Calling midnight at New Year “The Bells” - “what are you doing for the bells” has been met with blank faces many times
  • The having a steak pie on 1st Jan or N’er Day as my gran would have called it
  • Thats another one - calling my mum/dad’s mum Gran is that a Scottish thing? As it seems to be Granny/Nan/Nanny in England or even Grandmother in some places
  • Cod being the default fish in a fish and chip shop and having to pay more for haddock. Also having to buy the fish and chips separately

And not being able to buy Irn Bru in a glass bottle. It tastes so much better when it comes from a glass bottle than a plastic one or a can

It would have been great if my DD's Primary fed into a decent Secondary and they all went there. As it is, there are 2 Secondaries who's catchment takes half of the Primary's catchment each. Both not great schools but our one the worst. Then we have Grammar's and RC schools.

So out of my DD's friendship group of 4 girls- one went to one Comprehensive and one to the other, one went to a Grammar and my DD to the RC school.

My DC have a Granny and a Grandma. My Scottish friend calls her grandmother Nana.

At my chip shop you can buy a Cod special which is a small piece of Cod with a small portion of chips. Anything else you say separately for example a medium cod and large chips.

PlumpAndDeliciousFatcat · 12/02/2024 09:11

Yolo12345 · 12/02/2024 08:28

Oh and you have to have a degree to be a teacher in Scotland, whereas not necessarily in England.

And free school meal provision is universal up to a certain age in Scotland, whereas not necessarily down South.

Starting salaries are higher for teachers also (in state provision) in Scotland

The point about salary is true (just) - starting salaries in England are now 30k, and I think Scottish probationers start on about 31.5k?

However I think I am correct in saying that Scottish pay scales don’t have any regional weighting for teachers working in more expensive areas, eg Aberdeen or Edinburgh? English pay scales have regional weighting for inner and outer London, and the ‘fringe’ around the city.

You are misinformed on teacher qualifications. Teaching remains a graduate
profession in England. You might have heard that some schools can employ unqualified teachers but this means that they don’t have QTS, not that they don’t have degrees.

Garlicdoughball · 12/02/2024 09:13

Cancelledcurio · 12/02/2024 09:03

@SenecaFallsRedux aw the old Scots are more egalitarian myth eh ? From a Scot living in England - bollocks ( kindly!)Nothing electoral wise to suggest this either.

I think this is bollocks too. Where there is a large collective employer that’ll help install community cohesion, also towns in Scotland are smaller than in England on average - the village where I grew up, everyone knew everyone else so there would be a lot of helping out on that basis. The English hippies that loved the area tended to be the most community minded.

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 12/02/2024 09:15

@PlumpAndDeliciousFatcat I wonder if PP was referring to the way TAs regularly teach classes solo? I think I saw a thread a while ago that that's not allowed in Scotland? I may be wrong!

GinJeanie · 12/02/2024 09:18

I remember seeing the phrase "Are your eyes fit for driving?" on a motorway sign in Scotland which I love. Very lyrical. I also saw a great sign concerning litter somewhere but can't remember it. I love some of the Scottish dialect/phrases from different areas. My friend used to say she was feeling "peely-wally" when she was under the weather which is a perfect description imo...