Which secondary school in or around Edinburgh?

[sN0drop]

Hello ladies,

We are looking to make a home back in Scotland while my husband stays south for work (being RAF his job will change every 2 years so we need stability for our boys in Secondary).

Our boys would be of age to start S1 and p7 in August 2012 and have been in a prep school in Oxfordshire for the past few years to try to keep some sort of continuity but it's not home. Our eldest would be okay on admissions tests I think as he's doing well but our youngest would be terrified. I have more faith in the Scottish Ed system than down here so would like to consider going back to state system. (It may seem trivial but I am concerned though about how they would fit in with their preppy accents). We had been considering Dollar but want to know if anyone can recommend other options.

Scary stuff! It's going to be a major and daunting move for us all as its just me (mum) and the boys making a new start, new home while dad commutes. I am sorry this is long winded but I hope someone out there might be able to help us with the benefit of their experience.

Thank you for reading this!

Hi
I'm investigating similar things although my kids are much younger. This site here shows all the schools:
www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scottishschoolsonline/othersearches.asp?schoolsearchstring=&addresssearchstring=&authority=Edinburgh+City&strTypes=issecondaryschool&strFundingType=State+Funded&bSubmit=1&Submit=Search

(sorry can't link from phone)
You can also download inspection reports from hmie website.

Good luck!

Forgot to say that here:
www.suttontrust.com/research/university-admissions-by-individual-schools/

Is the Sutton trust report on school performance in relation to what they consider the "top 16" universities. Edinburgh & surrounding area schools get a few hits in the top 100 state schools in this order:
Beeslack community high school 41.3%
Royal high school 30.1
Jewel & esk valley college 28.5%
James gillespies 28.4%
Craigmount 25.9%
Boroughmuir 24.8%

Top of the table was dominated by independent schools with rates about 85%.

However I'm not sure how useful these figures are. Apart from oxford & Cambridge I'm not totally convinced that any other universities have a particular cache.....

Hi there sNodrop; All the private schools will have already had their entrance exams - usually held in January - and allocated their places for S1 for this August 2012. I know because I have had the conversations with the relevant people.

Not all the schools are full although I was told Heriots, Watsons and Stewart Melville's are.

In the state sector you should talk to Rita Hair - I'll PM the telephone number if you wish - she deals with admissions and should be back in her office on Tuesday.

Inspection reports are easy to find though time consuming to wade through. STV produced a league table and though it is not the best point of reference it is what I have been basing my research on. I can't link it here but again am happy to point you in the right direction.

Thank you very much ladies for your messages. I can't tell you how great it is to have some new avenues to look down. For entry in August 2013, it seems that we'd better get ourselves up the road and register interest at a few options and set up the preassessments for January. Poor boys, horrible process isn't it. Those links mentioned would be much appreciated. Hubby home for R and R next week so would be great to be armed with loads of info to start things rolling.