Moving to Musselburgh from London

[FemaleHuman]

General advice needed. Husband has accepted a job in Edinburgh and we are thinking of Musselburgh as the place to live. We have a 5 year old who will attend state school hopefully and a 2 year old.
Any intel on good state primary schools? Is the town a family friendly place? Any feedback gratefully received.

Have a look at the recent thread Move to Edinburgh. There is discussion about Musselburgh there and other advice about schools etc.

Very family friendly, IMO, with a real sense of identity and community. Lots of clubs and activities available, plus the harbour, seaside and easy access to countryside, coast and Edinburgh. There are half a dozen state primary schools: traditionally Campie and Stoneyhill are rated most highly of these but I don't know how fair that is, as there have been changes and investment in the other schools recently. A mixed area socially, more so than the likes of eg North Berwick or Dunbar, but offset by being much nearer to Edinburgh with great public transport links. It has been growing rapidly with lots of new housing developments, and this has put pressure on infrastructure (GP surgeries, local traffic etc).

One tip which I hope will help - remember that Scotland has different legal and educational systems . Procedures for buying a house and applying for a school place are very different here.

Thank you. We will be renting and I’m aware that we can’t apply for a school place until we actually have a tenancy agreement and a bill in our name. Not sure we will manage that before August. I’m really keen for feedback on local state Primary Schools as I’ve no idea at all.

You might not need the bill, but you do need the tenancy agreement. Phone the council and check.

Is the school you want over subscribed ?

Is there no way you could move there earlier with the children ? My sister did that when she was moving back to the UK from abroad and her oldest was starting P1.

She moved around Easter, so after applications closed but before the summer. She was originally given a place in another ( non catchment) school but then a place in her catchment school became free before August.