Might have to move to Edinburgh - AIBU to ask for recommendations of secondary schools...

[Turmericpie]

So, this could be on the cards because of work.

I've only been twice and not for a long time.

Could any knowledgable folk point me in the direction of areas of Edinburgh which are good for family living (tweens) and good secondary schools?

Thanks a lot

Hi, you could ask in Scotnet. I know Boroughmuir has a good reputation.

There's a Scotnet? I had no idea! Thanks

Posting this in Scotsnet might get more replies.

What I know is a lot of Edinburgh families school privately and there's pressure on the better state schools that are located in the nicer parts of Edinburgh, such as Marchmont, Brunstfield, Grange etc.

I was just going to say Boroughmuir High School

Or Gillespie's. And I think Royal High School too

Schools have strict catchment areas, and for a popular high school, it's unlikely that an out of catchment placing request would be granted

Oh xpost.

I think Scotsnet is under Other topics.

Are we talking private or state?

There’s already eleventy billion threads on this in Scotsnet and the local Edinburgh thread

Depends on got dc - boroughmuir looks best on paper but there's plenty other schools in cheaper catchments that would suit many dc better, especially if they aren't solidly academic. Lots of the apparently less well performing schools have very good feeder primaries but suffer the primary to private dip. (Think trinity academy) Able dc can still do incredibly well. I've friends who's dc are excelling there in academic subjects and sports. Ones ds went on to Cambridge along with another from his year. Brought in has separate speciality schools for dance and music.

Thanks all. I'm so sorry @XazieRose I had no idea there was a Scotsnet

Fettes College

Good areas: Morningside if you can afford it, some areas of Leith are lovely, Davidson's Mains/Silverknowes/Cramond Village are all nice but Davidson's Mains is next to Muirhouse which is a shithole. Currie is nice. Haymarket/West End are lovely. Anywhere near Moray Place is swish. Corstorphine has some lovely parts. Holyrood is nice but bad for traffic (as is Haymarket/West End, FWIW, but IMO Holyrood is worse especially for parking).

Places to avoid: Muirhouse, the Muirhouse side of Drylaw, Calders, some parts of Leith.

Basically the nice areas can change very quickly and the bad areas are really dismal, so street view everything to get a feel for where you want to go.

Report your post & ask to have it moved across.

Coming back on to say Grange, Marchmont, North Morningside all have lovely houses though many have been converted.

If I was looking now I'd look at George Watson's as a decent back up private with my first choice being state: either Boroughmuir or James Gillespie.

Have you considered living in Glasgow and commuting? (Half joking BTW ) but your £ will go further in the West.

Hi there. Lots of good schools in edinburgh state and private for state catchment areas are key. Look up ESPC for houses and you can actually search by catchment area.

There’s also an Edinburgh board in local talk @Turmericpie. Virtually every thread on that is “moving to Edinburgh-what are good school areas?”.

25% of kids go private. There is a pretty fierce hierarchy within that sector too.

The kids at state schools will suffer discrimination over this, even at the highest ranked state schools.

There was a row at the Tesco Metro in Holy Corner about Boroughmuir kids being subject to a “no more than a few school kids at a time” rule whilst kids from nearby private schools were waved through.

And there is a massive premium on houses in good school catchments (30-40% if not more). Some of the best schools are in very high density housing areas, so even living very close isn’t always a guarantee.

There are also periodic fierce political battles over redrawing the catchment boundaries. When boundaries are redrawn, house prices follow suit, both up and down.

@XazieRose

The problems you outline sound like those in every other major city tbh

Your DH will have to go to school in the catchment area so check what that is when looking at properties. It’s hard to get into a school if you are not in the catchment area for it. It’s not like England where you apply for different schools, you go to your nearest one and that’s it unless you have a good reason to change school and there is space. My friend ended up at our school as she’d been threatened by a girl at her catchment school and it was a terrible school. As they had reported it to the police she was allowed to go to our ‘better’ school.

*dc not DH unless he needs to go to school too.