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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to move to Scotland for the free University places?

128 replies

weewifey40 · 03/03/2013 11:26

I love Scotland. It's a beautiful country. Bit cold, but you can't have it all!
However, we have 3 dc's.
The way things are now, it will cost them all about 30k in student debt each to get a degree. So 90k for the three of them.
Neither of our parents helped us with the cost of our degrees and it made life very tricky in our younger days.
We'd love to help our dc's towards the cost of uni.
The eldest two are very academic and already talking about what they want to do at Uni, so I think it's pretty safe to assume they're going down that route.
We could get a bigger house for the same money up there. Would want to be about half an hour or so from Edinburgh.
Has anyone else thought of doing this?
Any thoughts?
It also occurs to me that we could move and then Scotland decides to introduce fees!

OP posts:
Dereksmalls · 03/03/2013 21:27

Well I'd have to find somebody who came from Edinburgh in the first place, as I said all ex-students who never left!

Can't see how Edinburgh would be less wanky than Perthshire, would give Surrey a run for it's money Shock

ChristmasJubilee · 03/03/2013 21:33

Inverness-shire is lovely. Hope the "no fees" last long enough to get at least ds's 1&2 through.

MrsKeithRichards · 03/03/2013 21:38

GrinGrin@ you'll have had yer tea

LindyHemming · 03/03/2013 21:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ihategeorgeosborne · 03/03/2013 22:04

DH's parents live near Oban and I must admit that I have thought about sending the DC up to live with their grandparents when the time comes for them to go to uni!! Not sure they'd be up for it but it has crossed my mind. Although I seriously doubt that uni will be 'free' up there for much longer.

MechanicalTheatre · 03/03/2013 22:13

I reckon there's a NE version of "you'll have had your tea." No-one ever visited my house without my parents standing on the doorstep waving them off for ten minutes, practically begging them to come again, lamenting how little they saw each other, only for them to shut the door and say "God, I thought they'd never leave."

roughtyping · 03/03/2013 22:59

mechanical Grin my parents did that too!

roughtyping · 03/03/2013 22:59

Not NE however, Maryhill

JennyPiccolo · 03/03/2013 23:03

I live in the east end of Glasgow and I've not seen a track suit tucked into socks in years. Waiting for onesies as outdoor wear to really take off though.

KikkiK · 03/03/2013 23:19

To add to the long list of benefits of living in Scotland:
You don't have to pay water bills.
Supermarkets open past 4pm on Sundays.

Lived down south for eight years and am quite happy to be home.

WilsonFrickett · 04/03/2013 00:11

MrsKeith I was convinced you were a Londoner! ::based on nothing at all, clearly:: and you're just down the road!

::reconsiders the concept of meet-ups::

MrsKeithRichards · 04/03/2013 10:18
Grin

I've only ever been to London once! East coast lass through and through here. If you're looking for me I'm the one with the messy hair and the amazing boobs thanks to my bra intervention!

kinkyfuckery · 04/03/2013 10:19

I think you get tucked in tracksuits in the north of England (specifically in Liverpool and Newcastle), never seen it anywhere else and nowhere is it as rife as in Glasgow. You certainly don't get it in NE Scotland. Why, we're simply a little classier than the so-called central belt.

I think we are still classed as NE Scotland (Angus), but we sadly do get the tucked in tracksuits here. But then we seem rife with all sorts of dodgy bastards!

salemsparklys · 04/03/2013 12:37

I have a friend who moved from Englad to here ( Edinburgh ), she lived here 3 months and got a college place, did Access to Nursing for a year and started Uni in Adult Nursing with me, lived here no more than 2 yrs before she started Uni.

IfNotNowThenWhen · 04/03/2013 13:00

Not been for years, but I used to know Glasgow well, and that is a great city.
Excellent university as well.
In parts it was a bit like going back in time about 30 years (tenements, urchins, etc) and the sectarian/football craziness was very weird for me, but it is a very vibrant and interesting place.
I am talking late nineties though, so it may be totally different now.

Kendodd · 04/03/2013 13:23

So, this 'three year residency' rule, does that mean that if DCs moved to Scotland aged 18, lived there for three years, they could then get a free university place?

poozlepants · 04/03/2013 13:37

Send your kids to university in the Netherlands like Maastricht University- low tutition fees and lots of degrees taught in English.

MrsKeithRichards · 04/03/2013 13:39

I done a year of my degree in Maastricht!

I really need to name change now don't I?

ubik · 04/03/2013 13:44

Yes Ken

But where would they live, how support themselves? Starting 4year degree at 22, graduating aged 26 with student loans to pay ...

WilsonFrickett · 04/03/2013 14:14

MrsK you are well outed now! I shall keep my eyes open for a messy haired marvellous boobs Maastrict grad next time I'm down your way Grin

caledoniacalling2 · 31/05/2022 07:43

Scotland is not going to introduce fees. Edinburgh is in the world top 20, QS rankings, and St Andrews and Glasgow are in the top 100. Loans for living expenses are charged at low interest.

Eeebleeb · 31/05/2022 08:04

Arg just spent ten minutes writing a reply to this zombie! That'll show me.

riesenrad · 31/05/2022 10:15

I got a bit confused by the mention of a referendum next year. And then realised the date.

komoreb1 · 31/05/2022 11:26

OP, don't underestimate the impact of the weather and shorter summers. This can massively affect quality of life and health.

As for unis, they would have to do a 4 year-degree rather than a three. This is because you can go to uni is Scotland with Highers only, so the first year is like a foundation year.

Also, be aware that not all schools will offer a full range of Advanced Highers (similar to A-levels - an A at AH is the same UCAS points as the A* at A-level). It depends on the cohort and how many tend you do AH, as many students just go to university with Highers only because they can, and don't apply outside Scotland.

Having said this, some really like the more 'exploratory' first year as you can try a broader range of subjects in a less pressured way. On the other hand, in 4 years at an English uni, you could have earned a Masters on top. Or perhaps had a placement / study year overseas, as opposed to 4 years in one place.

Edinburgh uni has a very good reputation. As does ST A's (although it a quite small and remote town and not everyone would want that for 4 years).

Have a look at the Higher Ed threads - success rates for Scottish students into Oxbridge are the lowest in the U.K. It's unclear why this is - but possibly because a lower proportion do AH than the equivalent who do A-levels? One poster this year was arguing that her son did poorly in the MAT (maths test) for Oxford because some of the topics had not been covered at the time of the test.

ifonly4 · 31/05/2022 11:30

There's no guarantee the course they'd want to do would be in Scotland, they might feel the course they'd like to do has been opportunities elsewhere and also it's not just grades they need to get an offer. My DD chose a niche course and only four universities at the time offered it.