To want to move south?

[Oohlalaaaaaa]

Currently live in Central Scotland. My partner is from Dorset. We have primary school aged children with one due to start high school this year. I think we would enjoy a better quality of life down there.
I'm a bit worried my kids would be picked on and not accepted for having scottish accents or for being outsiders. Is this silly? 🤔
Also is it cruel to uproot 3 perfectly happy children, especially one at age 12 (she has strong friendships, the other 2 not so much)? Am I being selfish? I'm scared that if it goes wrong for them it will be my doing. Any advice would be appreciated.

Yes sorry I was being stupid and didn't realise what you meant, and yes that's definitely worth factoring in.

They may be fine but they will be saddled with debt which Scottish students aren’t. English people aren’t eligible to get free education in Scotland, Scottish people are, but OPs children will no longer be eligible for it if they move to England.

Exactly 😂 Glasgow is literally surrounded in three different upland areas; probably the same in Edinburgh. Stirling lies in the foothills of the highlands. You can also get to the southern uplands within about 30 minutes.

My DH was physically beaten up at school for having an English accent. He was 5.

I think Dorchester would be a good bet. Decent local amenities (cinema, swimming pool etc). Thomas Hardye doesn't start until Y9, so DD12 would be able to start in the main intake there. Easy access to Weymouth for sea you can actually swim in, watersports and 'Weybiza' for older teens. Relatively easy access to Bournemouth/ Southampton for some proper shops.

I’d rather be up there so that my DS could go to university for free and I’d receive tax credits for the time he’s there.

Also as someone else said, climate change is a reality and in ten years you might want to return to Scotland. I don’t understand why there’s no countryside. Do you mean that it’s all farmland? Because surely that’s the same down here.

I'm really surprised that access to coast/countryside is one of your reasons. The coast in southern England is so busy - Scotland has absolutely incredible, almost empty coastline (ok except Portobello beach etc). Yes parts of Scotland can be a bit parochial but tbh so can parts of England and I would include parts of Dorset in that (we have family in Wimborne so have spent a fair bit of time there).

For warmth and proximity to family fair enough... but some of what you're saying does sound ever so slightly pipe dream-ish?

I'm an English transplant in Scotland and have never had a word about my accent. Maybe it depends where you live... in our part of Scotland there are so many different accents that nobody seems remotely bothered.

University funding is a huge consideration here. England’s nice but so’s not saddling your kids with a lifetime of debt.

The weather would be my dealbreaker. I live in the sunny SE and couldn't bear rain most days.

I moved a lot when young and got picked on in every single new place because of my accent. Can't say it bothered me too much though, I got through it pretty well.

It doesn’t rain “most” days in the central belt, particularly if you are in the east of the central belt. Glasgow typically has 167 rain days per year, Edinburgh 129, Weymouth 113.

If you would seriously consider moving your family 450+ miles away and potentially saddling them with £40k student debt each to have 16 extra dry days per year then … well … that’s interesting.

The highlands is significantly wetter, but op has stated many times they are in the central belt.

Your 12 year old would be going into Y8 in September, so would have already missed the first year at secondary school in England if that’s a consideration.

You moved back to Scotland for family and feel disappointed. You want to be near family down south but that might not be all you imagine too.

I live on the west coast of Scotland and think it’s a great location. Direct train to Glasgow, beach on our doorstep, surrounded by countryside on the edge of a decent sized town. Our schools aren’t ‘Scottish’ focused and provide a good education . We have great independent eateries and had a cracking Sunday roast out last weekend!
I would be concerned a sideways move might land you in a similar location with marginally better weather and think it’s so important to know why you really want to move before you uproot the DC.

There’s no problem with the English accent in Scotland, what do you think we are?

We live in the Bournemouth Burbs! The town centre has few large shops now ,Castle point(A large shopping centre) has all the big stores including a 3 storey M and S.I love it here ,there are all the beaches (great in off season)New Forest is beautiful about a half hour drive to Burley. Schools are good too.The weather is kind to us ! Whats not to like ?

I'd say move, you don't need to worry about fitting in. In southern England people are very tolerant of others and are used to a wide variety of accents and so on. I suspect the reason for your fear is that you assume that the general nastiness shown to English accents in Scotland is reciprocated south of the border, but it's really not. The English generally don't give a toss about someone being Scottish (I don't mean that in a negative way, I just mean they'll treat you like you're just a normal human being like them.)

I do not recognise the way you are describing Scotland - you could certainly move locally to somewhere lovely if you are in the central belt.

I'm in a similar situation to you, which city are you in? (Just wondering if it's the same!)

Hi OP I'm in central Scotland too, I have immediate family in Liverpool and have stayed there for a bit, they bloody love the Scottish accent. Genuinely the kids will be fine, I work for a big company and used to speak on the phones to customers they loved that our call centre was in Scotland. Xx

are you planning to rent or buy a house? if the latter what is your budget?

As others have said - you will be saddling any kids that go to uni with at least an extra 27k of debt each. Wages are low compared to property costs and public transport is poor (other than in large towns).

However, I wouldnt move from south coast.

It's rather disingenuous to describe the weather as being only marginally better. It's significantly sunnier, warmer and drier in the south and south west and ten years of climate change is not going to suddenly make the south unbearable.
It's much more common to swim in the sea and participate in watersports.
There are many more days when it's nice to be out and about.

I am another one struggling to work out where on earth you could be living in Scotland that doesn't have coast and/or countryside easily accessible. It makes me wonder how realistic you're being.

How long does it take you currently to reach the countryside and what do you do when you get there?

I’m from a southern county and my dad lives in Poole - whilst I love it down there it’s over priced and there’s just soooo many people everywhere!
beaches are packed, parking is expensive, everything costs.

on the other hand, moved up north (NW Lakes) and love it here, strong sense of community, cheap house prices and cheap rent, some high salaries thanks to Sellafield, loads of things to do that don’t cost anything, beaches, lakes, mountains and Scotland to explore!

Every experience is different.
I moved from SE England to Clackmannanshire and the entire family was subject to 'fuck off back to your own country', 'why can't you get jobs in your own country?' 'Sassenach', 'English Bitch', bricks thrown at our windows, cars egged, used sanitary towels put through the letterbox, refused service in shops, my brother was stabbed, twice....
That was in the 80's though so hopefully things have changed.
I'm still traumatised to this day.

However... I went to visit a 'friend' as an adult and she mocked my accent in front of her friends to save face... so maybe things haven't.

Just saying you can't predict any scenario.