Scotland?

[Baroluleni]

Hello fellow Mumsnetters.
I’m asking on AIBU purely for traffic.
currently residing in the East of England with children (4) all apart from one having left home.
our youngest is 15 and still needs to complete 6th form and then University in veterinary.

We are seriously considering selling up our 5 bed country style house and therefore releasing equity and downsizing to a 3/4 bed detached more modern style house.

DH wfh but occasionally will need to go into office on outskirts of Glasgow. (Very occasionally).
We therefore have visited Scotland many times and absolutely love the amenities of Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Please give us some ideas on the very best locations with modern style housing, max budget £450k as want to be mortgage free and do not want structural work to do.

i have seen online Paisley seems a lovely area. But have yet to visit.

obviously want the usual and predictable, minimal criminal and honestly activity.

Glasgow and Edinburgh appeal to us, as along as within 30mins drive to either city for amenities.

Lots of lovely areas in Fife (such as Dalgety Bay, mentioned above) with great train & bus links to Glasgow & Edinburgh. Also on the coast and a short drive to the hills.

absolutely would never live in falkirk prob some nice houses, but the town centre is just awful, ( boyfriend just sold a house there) I’m in Stirling which I like, work in Edinburgh and family in strathaven and eaglesham so both lovely places close enough to drive to Glasgow. Linlithgow is nice. Not sure I’d live there though.
I’m sure you’ll find somewhere, I like Stirling as we can get to the highlands easily enough and also Glasgow and Edinburgh good train links etc

I would wait until your dc has finished 6th form as you would be putting too much pressure on them by switching to a completely different system and curriculum at such a crucial stage.

If they do get into either Glasgow or Edinburgh you can then narrow down your search on that basis as then they can stay at home and save you money as neither city is cheap to rent.

Is your child up for this move? It can be difficult to integrate into a new school anywhere at that age but you have the different school system and some places are more welcoming than others.

Dalgety Bay has no soul whatsoever. You need to spend a bit of time in the places you like the sound of to get a feel for them.

Paisley 😂

Parts of Paisley are nice, there are some fantastic houses and I think around the Abbey is lovely. Sadly one wee walk around meeting some residents would be an eduction on the reality’s of Paisley. As they say, people make Glasgow & that applies to Paisley but in a different way.

Another one just here to 🤣 at the Paisley suggestion. Hamilton is probably only marginally better.

Central belt try Larbert, Dunblane, Linlithgow, Stirling or the villages to the east side of Falkirk.

The biggest challenge will be the change of school system don't underestimate how hard that will be. We don't have sixth form here. Depending on your eldest date of birth they may have aged out of the Scottish school system by that point as many Scottish students are finished education at 17 as the entry years work differently. Moving between GCSE and higher is notoriously challenging, as the school years and course content don't match up neatly.
Something to be aware of it that schools will start teaching courses and change timetable for the school year at end of May/June, as soon as the Scottish is exam diet if finished. Which is when English schools are in the middle of exams, making a transition between systems at that point tricky. Also we start the first set of exam courses (NAT 5s) in S3 age 13/14 sitting the first exams is S4 age 14/15. Then moving onto highers is S5 age 15/16, then in S6 either more higher or advance highers, at age 16/17.

You generally need 3 year residency for free uni tuition.

Paisley is like everywhere else , it’s has its good and bad parts

Thank you all for your input, has been very useful Indeed. Especially regarding the higher education structure.

Can clearly see my mistake of putting Paisley instead of Hamilton has confirmed I def do not want to be going near Paisley also 😂.

Also we start the first set of exam courses (NAT 5s) in S3 age 13/14 sitting the first exams is S4 age 14/15. Then moving onto highers is S5 age 15/16, then in S6 either more higher or advance highers, at age 16/17.

At the start of the course year yes - but nobody is sitting Highers this May aged 15. The very youngest will have turned 16 in February this year. School intakes in Scotland are 6 months different from England/Wales - our cut off is 28th Feb theirs is 31 August - which means however much people try, you can't draw exact comparisons between years. It's not as simple as OP thinking her child will finish GCSEs in England and immediately slot into S5 - they might, and there's certainly more flexibility in what year group they join than from what I've heard about in England, but it might not be the "right" year for their age.

Use this to help you find out what areas are like:

simd.scot/#/simd2020/BTTTFTT/9/-4.0000/55.9000/

Course fee info correction. RUK tuition fee is currently £47,675 for the total 5 yrs.
For International students it's £198,500.

Which is irrelevant if the OP's dc does not achieve the grades to get in.
An alternative for yps interested in working with animals is Vet Nursing but the average pay isn't great, so a specialism might be required.

Tbh I would be wary about moving to Scotland based simply on the housing being cheaper. I think you need to want to live in Scotland too, to want Scotland to be your home. It shouldn't just be about the house.

And the weather. Have you factored that in? I am Scottish but live down south. I personally wouldn't move my kids up - we are all settled here - but my husband absolutely refuses to even consider it because of the weather. And he has a point!!

Do you also know about the higher income tax and stamp duty (called land and buildings transaction tax in Scotland)?

Despite being born and bred here and living here most of my life I wouldn't move to Scotland. In your shoes I'd consider Northumberland or Yorkshire. That's where I'd go if it wasn't for my elderly parents being here.

I think you're a bit disillusioned that moving to Scotland will offer you cheaper housing. 3/4 bed family homes in the catchment of good schools within commuting distance of Glasgow are going to be a struggle to find in your price range. Also bear in mind that the "offers over" system in Glasgow means that houses in popular areas may sell for 10 or even 20% more than the offers over price.
And I definitely wouldn't disrupt the education of a 16yr old who wants to be a vet to move them into the scottish education system at such a critical age. Wait until they've done A-levels then school catchment is less of an issue in your housing search too.

I came on to say Mid or East Calder (Mid probably slightly nicer). Bellsquarry / Murieston as it has the train station on the Edinburgh-Glasgow line.

Slightly closer to Edinburgh (and pricier) it would be Currie or Balerno that I'd look at.

Yes, that's exactly what I meant, the school year spans those age groups. We're making the same point in the transition from the English system at that stage isn't an easy move or a neat fit.

Helensburgh.
Every.Single.Time.

Wonderful place to live.

Northumberland has gorgeous coast and countryside. Try looking there or the borders.

Paisley? 🤣

Winchburgh is currently undergoing massive development. It's closer to Edinburgh but you can drive to Linlithgow and get the train. Given the age of your child they'd need to go to Linlithgow Academy as Winchburgh Academy doesn't have a 6th year at present. Linlithgow ranks fairly high in the league tables.

Hell yes, we got out 23 years ago, not a chance would we go back.

Stirling,
Bridge of Allan is lovely
Dunblane

We visited Paisley for about 2 hours - more than enough - as my granny came from there. She was an old tink and nothing much has changed .
First time I've ever felt unsafe on a bus mid morning.