From England to Shetland/Orkney - schools/colleges, jobs and property advice please!

[SophieCatScribbles]

Hi, and thanks in advance for any helpful advice 🙂. Sorry if this has been asked lots of times!

Next summer, we are moving from England to Shetland or Orkney, and I'd like some advice. I've read a lot online, but it's always better to hear things from real people! We've got roughly a year to prepare. I know that'll go ridiculously fast. A lot of thought has gone into it already, but I've no doubt there's lots to learn! We're all really looking forward to lots about the move, but we know that there'll be a lot of challenges too.

When we go, our dd will have just finished her GCSEs and be 16. In England she'd be about to start A levels or go to college, but I know the Scottish system does things a bit differently and the year timings are different too. Her present school isn't great and although she's bright enough, she's not predicted more than mediocre grades for GCSE. From what I've read, I think she'd move into a secondary school, but would she have to sit all the exams again a year later at their equivalent of GCSE?!

We're moving up with part of family, so we are selling two properties here, pooling the equity and buying one place for us all. Timing will be everything! I know that the Scottish house-buying system is different, but I'd appreciate any specific advice re advertised price and rough sale price and how competitive it is up there.

We'll have some income, but two people will be potentially looking for work in Shetland/Orkney (one office, one more practical) so any insights or advice about the job market would be really appreciated too.

Thanks everyone.

Thanks :) yes, as I said in the earlier post, we are travelling up to both sets of islands in a couple of months time to have a good look. It's a tricky situation and obviously in an ideal world I'd have five years to plan, and six months to go and explore fully and spend loads of time up there before asking anything online....but we can't, so I'm trying to ask questions here beforehand. We want to last longer than two winters ❄️, but I understand that we will never be local. That's okay.

Thanks for the info about the islands and schools, that's really useful. My stash of information is growing like mad. Daunting. 🙂

It sounds like you won't have the choice of which one, OP?

Not knowing yet makes it so hard to plan, but I can't just leave everything up in the air, so I'm trying to look at both and plan for both and get my head around both. It's very interesting in lots of ways, because they have lots of differences, but equally they're both very remote island groups, both in the very north of Scotland, both challenging and a bit scary, both new. I'm trying very hard not to choose a favourite as well, just in case! Both are beautiful and scary, both will have long, dark, tough winters, both will require a complete change...

I'm sorry I don't have all the answers yet that I should have. It would be so much easier!

That time of year will be perfect to visit, as you will get a better idea of how remote you are willing to live. I think you’d be best focusing on whether you want to have your child boarding to finish her education or not and how far you are willing to drive to have her visit friends, go to the cinema etc. etc. And that will realistically limit the areas you are willing to live in. Personally I couldn’t live on one of the islands and have my entire live dictated too by the ferry timetables. My kids, although young, couldn’t cope with being the only kids for miles either.

Yes, that's a good point, Mrs Amaretto...she'll need to be able to get about and see friends. I think the mainland of either cluster would definitely be better if we can do it :)

I boarded at Anderson High and loved it. Great educational and social experience. Shetland has a very buoyant economy and a lot of incomers who are generally welcomed. Culturally, there's a lot going on, particularly for musical families. Lerwick, Brae and 'Scalloway are the main centres.

Most incomers do underestimate the drain of a 'Shetland winter- it is cold and dark and damp and very very long. The beautiful long summer days can be very deceptive.

Oh what an adventure for you and your family!

I spent my childhood in Kirkwall, so none of my info is up to date I'm afraid.

I don't particularly remember the winters being cold as such, but maybe it's all relative, and I just didn't know any different, but I don't remember the same levels of snow and ice that we get in the central belt of Scotland. I does get very windy though and we had lots of power cuts. And dark, very dark, but that can be nice in cosy way.

We grew all our own vegetables - potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbage, cauli, beetroot, purple sprouting broccoli, we had blackcurrants, strawberries, raspberries - I'm sure I also grew radish and courgette, this was just in the ground, we didn't have a greenhouse or poly tunnels etc, but I do remember we froze/pickled/bottled a lot to get us through the winters! We ate a lot of tinned food too!

I don't know if it'll be on iplayer but there's just been a series on BBC in the mornings following the medical staff on Shetland called Island Medics which, if you can find it, might help you see what Shetland is like before you visit - if you're not sick from all the videos you've watched already . Whatever you do, don't watch the detective series Shetland or you'll think you're in permanent danger of being murdered!

Don't worry about picking up either accent, they are beautiful accents to have and I'm sad that I can't switch back into it myself.

Good luck when you come to do your trips!

Winters: it's not the cold or the dark. It's the wind and the sheet ice on the roads. If you've got an outdoor hobby you'll never get used to the wind... It grinds you down. Watching the kids take off is always amusing though. South 40mph winds are seen as terrifying. On Shetland it's business as usual.

I drove dales Lee voe the other winter and it was sheet ice all the way from firth to voe - that was pretty grim. (About 9 miles)

I know a couple who moved to Orkney a few years ago. I have visited a few times. They love it. There are quite a lot of English people living there. They have been welcomed by the community. Several of the islands are connected to ‘mainland’ Orkney by the Churchill barriers which act as bridges. So you could live on South Ronldsay or the islands in between and still drive to Kirkwall in half an hour. Kirkwall has a Tesco, leisure centre, cinema, lots of shops and cafes etc. So whilst you can drive around and it looks remote it’s actually not. Down sides- it’s really windy. The houses are mostly grey/cream one story because of weather proofing. It’s a very long way for family to visit. Flights are very expensive. Ferry is much more reasonable but the long drive from a england is a killer. Moving your stuff to Orkney costs a lot more than moving it off Orkney for some reason. Cruise ships visit Kirkwall a lot in summer so the locals avoid it when thousands of people descend on the town for the day. Upsides- beautiful landscapes and beaches, wildlife (seals and birds), no traffic lights, northern lights, beaches, stone circles and archaeological sites. Also, the weather changes very quickly there. It can be grey and rainy and 10 minutes later bright sunshine. Cannot advise of jobs or buying houses as they are retired and rent.

Looks like it's going to be Orkney! 😀.

Thanks so much Bineverywhere and Indigolamp. Really useful info and advice Indigo, I've read about the Churchill barriers - such a great idea. Husband's job will be on the Mainland so I hope there's a few promising houses on the market at the right time. We're not too picky, so should be okay.

We'll be going up in a couple of months so I'm sure will learn a lot then! I may come back with a hundred new questions lol.

That’s good news. Hope you enjoy your trip. 😀