To think London commute towns are no better than Edinburgh for raising a family?

[JenXG]

So basically DH and I are having a debate on whether to leave Edinburgh and move to a commute town outside London. (we have to stick with Edinburgh / London as working in financial sector but both of us would avoid London because of traffic/pollution/crowded streets).

The main reason for DH favouring those commute towns is that they seem to have loads of good schools for DS (4mo) to choose from compared to Edinburgh where there are only a few (or hardly any if his standard). He has high hope for DS. Also the A-level system is widely recognised across different countries (so potential for studying overseas) but the same cant be said for the Scotland system.

My worry is that we are giving up preferred lifestyle for a very small difference in schooling. I grew up in a big city and always need busy streets nearby. I understand some places such as Guildford will have its own town centre but there are still fewer things going on compared to Edinburgh. For example, there are a wide range of fine restuarants, several theatres & cinemas, pubs, etc in Edinburgh but living in Guildford we'd still have to go to London for a night out? I'd assume activities for young kids are more available in Edinburgh than in Guildford? E.g. Edinburgh has a zoo, lots of museums, and a coastline where you can do kayaking. Also Guildford is one of the busier towns as I understand. Some other commute towns are even quieter. So we'd highly likely end up travelling to London a lot which is not fun (I'm far more used to walking or driving a little bit to favourite places than hours of trains/tubes).

What do people think? I haven't been to many places in the southern area. Maybe I have misunderstood what life would be like there? Would you relocate if you were us?

I don’t know if it’s my chip or if anybody really thinks this: going to Oxbridge isn’t the pinnacle of ambition. It might be if you’ve been to Oxbridge but for many people it doesn’t really register because there are less odd institutions to be part of.

Lots of Scottish-educated kids don’t fancy it, thanks, especially the fees. That’s not poverty of ambition.

To add to my previous post: I have now realised that there is a Royal Grammar School in Guildford, as well as a Royal Grammar School in HIgh Wycombe . As you were...

I live in a London commuter town. It's great. Plenty to do. Lovely place. A But you want to stay in Edinburgh - which is also a great place - and your husband's idea of moving to Guildford to increase a 4 month old's chances of getting into Oxford is completely ridiculous. Your son is his own person. Although you can influence him, he's not a blank page for you to write on. He will decide if he is interested in achieving highly in academia - or like most people, he'll decide that's not really what he's into. I would tell your husband if at the age of 10 he looks like he might want to go to Oxford, then maybe you'll consider it.

I assume you will be sending your 4 month old to private school in which case they can do A levels in Edinburgh as many if not all of the private schools follow the English system.

I love edinburgh for its history, because it’s small but with plenty going on. For its great night buses. For the ready access to beautiful countryside. For its awesome charity shops. Turns out I really love edinburgh even though I am a west coast girl at heart. I can’t understand why anyone would leave somewhere like edinburgh for a soulless commuter town.

@nibdedibble we aren't allowed to be happy to do things differently, it's taken as implied criticism.

I'd seriously look at private school fees in south east England - I understand they are much higher than in Scotland. Relocating in Edinburgh so you are in a catchment for a good state secondary would surely be a better option, then your child/children would still be entitled to free university which is another massive consideration! I'd only move if I really couldn't hack the Edinburgh weather any more- I think the house prices are worse down South and total gamble on whether the state schools will live up to your OH's expectations

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Guildford, a town of around 60,000 inhabitants, does not offer quite as much as Edinburgh, a capital city of around 500,000 people.

Edinburgh is an amazing place to live, but Guildford is hardly the boring hole which some posters have suggested they would need to be paid to live in.

As for deciding where to live based on the chances of the child gaining a place at Oxbridge, when the child is 4months old, well I think that's probably been covered already!

Funny how people are speaking about 'hacking the weather' in Edinburgh, with no mention of having to hack the heatwaves in built up southern England in the height of summer. Give me Edinburgh winter weather over that any day! 30-odd degrees is probably okay on a beach somewhere, but trying to negotiate Tesco and subterranean trains with a two year old... No thanks!

@tabulahrasa

“DH doesn't like the fact that very few some years nil students get into Oxbridge from these schools”

Because they can go to St. Andrews or Edinburgh for free...

There is a massive disincentive to try for University outside Scotland not just for financial /geographical proximity reasons but because for most subjects in Scotland (including St Andrews and Edinburgh) you can get an unconditional offer with your S5 Highers results in hand, whilst studying for Advanced Highers in S6, rather than be under the massive pressure of needing to meet certain Advanced Higher Results conditions in S6 for a place on a similar course south of the border.

Stay in Edinburgh. Free Uni and prescriptions currently.
The S. E is a saturated dump and all the best schools are oversubscribed or you can't afford to live near enough.
Edinburgh has it all. Sea. Town. Country. Culture. I've visited once and loved it. I live in S. E cesspit, stay in Edinburgh

Just had a very pleasant flashback to getting my unconditional offer based on S5 higher results. Really enjoyed S6 based on that 😁

There are plenty of excellent state and private schools in Edinburgh.

  I suggest you take a closer look at the financial cost of housing and commuting  from satellite towns to London; plus  journey times and the stress and unreliability of crowded trains.  Now multiply those  dismal commuting hours  for the rest of your  working life.. and its all time you WON'T be spending with your child and each other.

I'm going to go against the grain a bit. I live in Guildford and love it! I grew up near to Edinburgh and would never go back. My teenage DCs are not in the hothouse private schools here (thankfully), but in a very good state (who send off students to Oxbridge every year, if you want that). Guildford is compact in a way that Edinburgh is not (Princes Street!); it has a good cultural life and you can be at the South Bank centre in 30 mins on the train (if you hop on at Woking). I know all my neighbours, the Surrey Hills AONB are 15 mins drive away and it's warm here . I don't miss the freezing fog, the cold North Sea winds or the fact it takes you ages to get anywhere in Edinburgh on the bus/car. I mostly WFH; I think this will be a permanent thug now due to COVID so don't commute. The leisure centre is great ... etc. etc

They are very different prospects.

I think the future for Scotland looks brighter than the future for England so world city v nice commuter town is maybe not the issue

I'd move to Edinburgh at once if DH wasn't totally tied in to London. An amazing city with the sea.....
Surrey commuter towns are dire bland and boring.
BF is in Edinburgh and her DD has a fantastic education in state schools probably helps that they live in an area with a lot of academics around so her classmates come from bright and involved families.
Unis understand Highers and Advanced Highers rank alongside A levels anyway.

Even better go all Tiger Mum (dad) and force feed him viola whilst he's still in nappies and hope makes it to St Mary's which is needs assessed by the state.

Greenlandthemovie

You’re funny! Did you used to post on the Scottish independence referendum threads?

I live in portobello and regularly get the bus into town. There’s nothing wrong with it. Fuck knows why you think there is! Of course now I have my ebike I cycle into town which is fine too. And will be even better once they finish the cycle path all the way there and I don’t need to go through Northfield, willowbrae and abbeyhill to avoid the main road. But even that is fine too! 30 mins on a bike along quiet roads vs 30/40 mins (depending on time of day) on a bus (4 miles as crow flies) Buses every ten mins. Does that sound terrible to others? Am
I deluded?

Guildford is hardly the boring hole which some posters have suggested they would need to be paid to live in.

I'm sure Guildford's a gazillion times better than the boring hole I was brought up in just outside London. I wont name it, but we used to dream of St Albans.

Our eldest went to Cambridge university, from a Scottish state comprehensive. No problem surpassing the entrance requirements.

His brother (same school) was offered a place at Cambridge but turned it down because he preferred the course in Edinburgh (same subject).

Edinburgh is a fabulous city to live in. However, if the SNP get their way, your son will be growing up in a third rate impoverished banana republic that has cut itself off from its biggest trade customer (the UK) and has too large a deficit to qualify for readmission to the EU.
They have already dragged Scottish education so far down the international league tables that they had to remove us from the rankings altogether to hide the embarrassment. So you would need to go private to avoid the laughable “Curriculum for excellence” in Scottish state schools.
Having to raise your son in an independent Scotland as an expat could be problematic if you are English (I haven’t rtwt) - my own DD got anti English abuse at a Scottish state school, including from one of the staff, even though she was born in Scotland, due to her English accent and parents.
If you work in the financial sector, many major companies will be relocating to London anyway in the event of independence, as Scotland has no central bank and cannot afford to underwrite potential losses as lender of last resort. So you might find the decision taken out of your hands in a few years’ time.
I am English and have lived in Scotland since the 1970’s.
I would never have moved here if I had known there would be such a rise of toxic nationalism and determination to tear the UK apart.

@GreenlandTheMovie

Its very difficult to go from one side of the city centre to the other by bus. It takes a long time and there aren't many. I still remember the time I got a bus from the West End to Leith - it took 1 hour. I missed my appointment.

I cycle in Edinburgh - nowhere is as good as Netherlands, Denmark etc but I don’t recognise the picture painted here. It’s fine, bit dicey at times, but fine.

Well, yes, its kind of like Lithuania or Estonia but worse in terms of infrastructure, so I suppose there is a vague European comparison.

An underground (apparently Edinburgh is "too small" although Newcastle is not) or an overground light railway (like a German S-Bahn) would be great. So would motorways between the cities . There is still only a dual carriageway between Perth and Aberdeen and Perth and Inverness. The infrastructure is dire and outdated and it is important. I'd rather jump on a regular train to London from Guildford than try to get a bus from Musselburgh or Portobello into Edinburgh City Centre.

I love this. I adore it when a poster literally disappears up their own BUM trying to justify something nuts. Don't move to Edinburgh, its infrastructure is worse than Estonia. It is also easier to use the amazing, never ever late SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY to get into London from Guildford than to take a bus from Porty.

The bus service in Edinburgh is really good. Trains in the SE are utterly dire, overpacked, and under-resourced. Feck's sake, if we weren't in the middle of a pandemic and everyone was working from home, the woeful performance of SW Railway would be a regular news headline this year too, just like it was last year.

Brilliant stuff Greenland. Keep it coming. Did you know that Edinburgh has a zoo? You could get KILLED by a RED PANDA probably. Also there is a really tall hill in the middle of it which you might FALL OFF AND DIE. Also the Royal Mile is quite steep and I'm sure you know someone who once lost their footing and ROLLED ALL THE WAY DOWN LIKE A CHEESE TO AN UNTIMELY DOOM.

@crackofdoom

To add to my previous post: I have now realised that there is a Royal Grammar School in Guildford, as well as a Royal Grammar School in HIgh Wycombe . As you were...

Are you Liam Gallagher?

Guildford is compact in a way that Edinburgh is not

Well yes. One is a capital city, and one is... very much not. Omg this thread is amazing.

Next up: Derby - far easier access to post offices than Vienna.

It may surprise some that Scottish people living in England can be subjected to verbal abuse. That's because some people are arseholes and arseholes can be found everywhere.

Also not quite sure what that has to do with the OP's particular predicament.

@Haventbeenthere

I'd choose Edinburgh over a commuter town. But, being commuter towns, they do have easy access to central London, which has a zoo and all the theatres, museums, etc you could possibly wish for.

Edinburgh also has a zoo, and all the museums and theatres you could wish for plus the Edinburgh festival.

@YoniAndGuy

Guildford is compact in a way that Edinburgh is not

Well yes. One is a capital city, and one is... very much not. Omg this thread is amazing.

Next up: Derby - far easier access to post offices than Vienna.

Good God. Guildford - wherever the hell it is - ain’t no Edinburgh. Edinburgh is one of the most stunning cities and furthermore it is the nation’s capital. Who would want to live in what amounts to the burbs when they can be living in the most adorable and dearly loved city? (Rhetorical)