Canadian family with 3 kids moving to York, Hull, Scarborough or Beverley????

[BigDecisionsx3]

Hi all, we are having to move to the UK for my husbands job in August. I am willing to move to any of the above cities based on the best school for my 9,7 and 4 years old kids. They will go to an independent school. I would truly appreciate any advise!!

Make it York, then.

Scarborough and Beverley are not cities. York would be the most diverse and safe. Where is the job based ? Traffic in York itself can be congested.

Where is the job based? That is key because you could end up with a long commute.

Beverley is lovely. So is York but pretty crowded. Scarborough is miles from anywhere and quite run down but still lovely to be by the sea. Hull is vastly underrated as a city and has loads to offer, with some very nice villages just outside.

I would recommend looking at Beverley. It’s a really lovely place to live. We have no independent schools but the independent schools in Hull are easy to travel to. Lots of children in Beverley also go to Pocklington school. Some of our state primaries are outstanding and lots of families use those then go independent for secondary school. As a previous poster said, Hull is an underrated city with lots for kids to do. There are also some nice areas to live in. York and Scarborough are also great. House prices in Beverley would be a bit lower than York and, in my opinion, you would be getting to live in just as lovely a place!

Beverley. I live in York and I’m from Hull. York isn’t what it was (there’s a whole thread about its problems on here). Hull is underrated but has problems re: education, healthcare and deprivation.

Beverley is just lovely, and near enough to both the above cities to enjoy their benefits without putting up with the downsides.

They will go to an independent school

This area isn't exactly London with dozens of schools to choose from, are there really lots of options in all the areas? Or will it actually be more of a case of finding a suitable independent school with places for them, If independent is essential?

Personally, primary school would not be the defining choice in choosing an area (although it might help decide against an area if the schools were poor)

I would definitely go for York - or a nice village nearby over Hull. I don't know Beverly though so can't advise about that.

It depends on where work is, I'm not sure how many independent schools there are there - I would email ahead to see

Thank you for all your responses! The job is in Scarborough however first priority will be to find the right school for the kids, i’ve Read some good things about Bootham and Pocklington but it’s hard to make a decision based on reading a few things here and there.

If the job is in Scarborough that does change things slightly. It's an hour from Scarborough to any of the other 3 places. You could always live in Wetwang just for the name alone

You might want to check the AA route finder timings of driving from these towns to Scarborough and determining your limits, bearing in mind potential winter weather delays. The roads around there tend to be rural, flat but single carriageway. With primary age kids you would be ok without private education (assume you have costed this up and perhaps employer would pay) but if you plan to stay longer term you would be looking at applying for secondary for eldest within a year or two.

There's always Scarborough college but I don't know if it's any good.

Beverley or York.

My Dad lives in Beverly and it’s beautiful.

Op- slightly off thread and very nosy but I have to ask....
Scarborough has some lovely parts but there is also a lot of deprivation( as there is in lots of coastal towns) most people given the choice between Canada and Scarborough would choose the former. Can I ask what your dh job area is?
I ask as I know two families who have moved to Canada and everyone else I know goes to Scarborough for days out!

Love York and would definitely move back - good shops, restaurants and pubs, lots of events on and easy to access countryside or coast - but can imagine the drive to Scarborough each day could be challenging. Been a while since I have been to Beverley but Hull has had a lot of investment having been City of Culture.

Given where the job will be based I'd maybe throw Filey into the mix?

Also throw Malton into the mix as it's halfway between Scarborough and York - lots of kids here go to the York independent schools on the train.

Bootham and Pock schools are both great btw. They would be my first and second choices if I was sending my kids to independent schools.

Commute from York to Scarborough isn’t great, I would try and be closer to Scarborough. As someone else said maybe Milton?
Can’t advise on Private schools in that area though

I wouldn’t want to do York to Scarborough every day. I know coming from Canada the drive might look relatively short but the traffic will be mean it takes ages. I am jealous though I used to live up there and the area is gorgeous. If you do go to York then Bootham is a lovely school. I would try and find a half way point where your kids can travel in - maybe Dalton as pp said.

*Malton. Flipping auto correct

Re the commute though, we are supposed to be getting extra trains and more carriages on the York-Malton-Scarborough route from December (increasing hourly capacity from 169 to 450) which would make it a lot more pleasant to do all or part of the route by train.

York is a great city with a range of decent private schools.
I don't know anything about private schools in Scarborough but like many seaside towns it is run down in places. It has a higher than average population of drug users and child sex offenders, I believe because other councils often house individuals there.
The commute between York and Scarborough isn't great particularly in summer when traffic going to the coast particularly caravans can lead to accidents and delays. It can be icy, foggy and snowy in winter.
I like Beverley to visit but it is very small and not a city.

Is he going to man one of those mini battleships on the lake?

York or Beverley

I have family in Beverley and wouldn't touch it with a barge pole!