Edinburgh (west side)

[Scottie04]

Hi
DH looking at a job at Heriott Watt. Its 10 yrs since we lived in Edinburgh and we were child free then! he hates commuting and so we would like to live close to uni. Does anyone know what Currie, Balerno, Juniper Green are like? What about schools, do they have the same problems with over subscription like they do here in England?
Livingston what is it like? Schools?
At the moment I am just looking for primary but will need high school in a few years so would like a good high school as well!!
Thanks

You might get more responses if you post on the MN local board for Edinburgh? I got some useful info when we moved back to Edin after 15y away.

We are in Juniper Green, great place to live I think, close to city and to HW, nice villagey feel. VG primary school, think it's pretty over-subscribed so worth looking into. Not sure about high schools, sorry.

Hi Currie & Balerno secondary schools are among the best in Edinburgh. The primar schools are also pretty good. Those areas are usually popular for families and have a good (but long!) bus service into the centre of the city but to travel to Heriott Watt is very easy.
Placing in schools in Scotland does not have the same problems as we hear about the schools in England. Each house has 2 catchment schools, one R.C. and the other non-denominational. You are (almost) guaranteed a place at one of them.

Junpier Green primary is fantastic but as a result is regularly oversubscribed, especially at P1. The catchment secondary is Currie High which is amongst the best of the state secondaries in the city and lots of Heriot Watt kids in both schools.
There is a good Golf club (Baberton) and a basic little tennis club, a park and some local shops in JG as well as an active church community. The 44 bus service in to town runs every 10 minutes but can be a long trek at commuter times.