Moving to Scotland

[MinniesAndMickeysNeedCounting]

I'm hoping for some guidance.
We've recently been told my dh job is being moved to Scotland, we're currently in England.
I know that your house buying system is different to ours and would love any practical advice on combining the two systems, can you combine them or do you have to seperate sale and purchase.
I've read a few things but thought it might be easier to ask here because I'm unsure of it.
You have a survey done prior to putting a house on the market? Sellers pack, presumably that means sellers are more serious than in England because the initial financial outlay.
Houses are listed and you're expected to offer over that price? How much over? Seen something about sealed bids too.
Can you view the survey/report before deciding to view a house or do you only get to see it after viewing.
Are missives the equivalent of searches.
It become legally binding in Scotland earlier in the process, here its very late, at exchange, when does it become legally binding please.
I think this is what's concerning me with the two different processes coming together.

Sorry if I've rambled and it's a bit garbled, things came to whilst typing

You asked upthread...yes with new builds it is easier, as they are on at a 'fixed price' usually but people do manage to negotiate them down sometimes or get tax paid or carpets/curtains thrown in.

dotoallasyouwouldbedoneby that sounds like a much easier route.

I've always heard that the scottish system is better, tbh it doesn't sound better, just different, once you're progressing with a purchase it's much more secure but harder to get to the sale agreed point, hope that made sense, I'm not dissing it, you just have different pitfalls to English system.

In regards to the survey, someone (sorry cant remember who) mentioned having your own survey on properties, presumably if the home report is all 1's then you dont bother, but does it end up costing a small fortune having multiple surveys done before submitting offers.

@MinniesAndMickeysNeedCounting

In regards to the survey, someone (sorry cant remember who) mentioned having your own survey on properties, presumably if the home report is all 1's then you dont bother, but does it end up costing a small fortune having multiple surveys done before submitting offers.

I buy and sell a lot of properties and would only get my own survey if the home report recommends it, for example, it may say to get a separate survey for damp. There shouldn't be any need for a separate survey otherwise. When I have been selling I think there has only be one time where a buyer wanted a separate survey and from memory that was because the employer was paying some of the costs. Even if there were some 2's on the Home Report then a separate survey probably won't be needed.

Just jumping back in to say in my experience Scottish secondary schools are very welcoming and flexible with new students from elsewhere. Why don’t you give Hermitage a wee phone for starters and talk through your concerns?
If you have the money could you consider sending your DD to Lomond for 2 years?

This is probably very outing but I Just wanted to add that I did this move between English and Scottish education systems and it was a nightmare.

I would strongly urge you to either move before her GCSEs (although even this move will be hard) or wait until she's finished her A levels.

I moved in year 11/S4 and it was horrible - I went to one of the top schools (academically) in Scotland but the teachers didn't have a clue about the English system or what I had studied. I had to really cram and work hard/independently outside of school to get my head around it all. They style of teaching was totally different and the choice of subjects more limited. I'm now studying as an adult the subjects the school wouldn't let me take.

I did highers (S5) and then left. Didn't stay at school for advanced higher (S6) because I hated it so much. I had a gap year and then went to university in England. I had to take a gap year because I finished S5 when I was 16 (turned 17 the following September) and most unis in England wanted me to be 18 before I went. NB if I'd stayed in England for year 13 I would have left school at 17 and had my birthday just before uni term stated.

I contacted lots of unis to find out their entry requirements and lots wanted advanced highers (done in S6) but I was desperate to leave school as was really miserable. I got offers from Edinburgh, Glasgow, UCL, Manchester, Exeter for the course I wanted just from having highers only though.

When I got to uni I found i was way ahead in certain things but way behind in others compared with my English/a level coursemates and of course most lectures assumed you had a levels and so kept referring to that. It's no coincidence that I made friends with mainly international students at uni...

Basically, I did well academically but that was in spite of the move and it made my life much much harder than it needed to be and I was very resentful

TBF, Hermitage Academy is well-versed in the English system and transitions because they have so many pupils transfer in and out of it. Just googled and found the Armed Forces info leaflet they have - am assuming at least some of it would be relevant:
www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/sites/default/files/welcome_pack_jan_2018.pdf

I did wonder as well whether Lomond would be an option? Not sure if they do A Levels or not but a lot of private schools offer either A Levels or the IB.

@MinniesAndMickeysNeedCounting

Ok so, systems not really comparable but I gonna try anyway, Nat 5 = our year 10 (no exams in this year here) Highers = our year 11 (GCSE's) Advanced highers = ? A-levels

I thought
Nat 5 = GCSE'S
Highers = a-levels/ as level
Advanced highers = higher than a level for students to earn extra credit/ qualifications, not a category we have.

Sorry if I'm being thick. I just thought she would join and do what ever your version of a-levels are, with the slight set back of pehaps having to restart an academic year

No:

Y11/GCSEs = S4/Nat 5s
Y12 = S5/Highers
Y13/A levels = Advanced Highers (worth more grade for grade than A Levels in UCAS points) and/or more Highers and/or Nat 5s eg Maths which is essential if you want to teach )

My ds, for example, sat 2 AHs and "crashed" a Higher in S6 (ie started it from scratch in S6)

Trying to map the years between the two countries is difficult because they are 6 months out of synch (made even more so by the fact that you can truly defer in Scotland).

So to demonstrate: ds was still 17 when he started Uni, despite having done S6. He turned 18 shortly after term started. With a September birthday, he'd have started school (Y1) a year later and would still have been in Y13. Because of the tendency to defer, especially for January/February birthdays, he was at the young end of the year. Having said that, one of his friends hadn't deferred and had a February birthday. This meant that despite also having done S6, he only turned 18 in the February of his 1st year at Uni

EmmaC78 I see, thank you. I must have misunderstood.

Timeandtune the lomond school is something I'm going to explore, we don't really earn enough for private education but this may be the way to sort if we exhaust other options.

redkiteflying I sorry to hear your experience was bad, thank you for sharing, it does help me to see what the transition might be like for dd.

Sturmundcalm thank you for the link, I will have a look at that this evening

prettybird thank you, I'm starting to get that our years fall between yours or visa versa. It seems at most other times this wouldn't be a problem (lower down the years) we've managed to fall for it at the worst point for dd.

Y11/GCSEs = S4/Nat 5s
Y12 = S5/Highers
Y13/A levels = Advanced Highers (worth more grade for grade than A Levels in UCAS points) and/or more Highers and/or Nat 5s*

Much better from your DD's point of view if you could be in Scotland for the start of S5/year 12.

Tavannach if I've understood correctly, dd who turns 16 very soon would need to be starting S5/highers in spring 2021. She's due to start her college/y12 in September 2021.
Moving a year before the job starts is not possible.
We're discussing the option of trying to delay the move so she can finish her education here but not yet sure how this could work with dh job.

The school year is August to June so S5 will start in August. If your DD has to go to college in England in September she would not be covering 5 subjects as expected in Scotland, or could she?

Tavannach
I've mis remembered the following post from, that's why I thought she'd need to start in May

Some schools start their higher courses end of May beginning of June before the summer break as they are one year courses and that teaching time is required to squeeze in all the content.

Surely if she can stay in England to do her A-levels then it wont matter if she does 5 (usually 3 A-level or 4 if very bright) because she'll apply to universities on par with any other English students.

Tavannach
I'm going to try that again.
I've mis remembered the following post from celtiethree, that's why I thought she'd need to start in May

Some schools start their higher courses end of May beginning of June before the summer break as they are one year courses and that teaching time is required to squeeze in all the content.

Surely if she can stay in England to do her A-levels then it wont matter if she does 5 (usually 3 A-level or 4 if very bright) because she'll apply to universities on par with any other English students.

They start teaching the S5 course in May so she would need to start then not in August if she didn't want to miss the beginning. I dont know of any High schools that don't do this, apart from private schools.

But there is a fair bit of movement in August as DC switch classes/ subjects depending on exam results.

Oh god, I'm getting confused.

IF she was to sit highers she would need to be able to start May 2021 (s5), if she started May 2022 it would be advanced highers (s6) but she would be to far behind to go down this route because we only specialise in 3 A-levels and its 5 in highers.
Is that correct?
If that's correct, could she in theory go back as an older student and start s5. So in effect start then in 2022 when she should have done them in 2021?

As others have said below, and from friends who are teachers now, all the schools I know of start the Higher course the May term of S4. Many schools (like mine),started the Higher course much earlier than that too, as there is so much to squeeze into 1 year. So if she wasn't there for at least the last term of s4 she would be at a disadvantage for highers in s5.
It would be better for her to remain in the English system imo.

Sell first and then rent while you are looking. If you are already in a strong position with your English sale completed, you will be a good bidder. The two systems don't combine well.

Maybe looking at S5/S6 as a two year block.

Within they two year block students can sit a combination of highers/advanced highers or even Nat 5s if they need to fill a gap ie maths/English pass.

The most able students could take a path of:

S5 - five highers, S6 - three advanced highers.

Advanced highers are very good for applying to university in England esp for sciences but not always necessary.

Other students may opt for a different combination:

S5 - 1 Nat 5, 4 highers, S6 2 highers, 1 advanced higher.

For example both my dc finished school with 6 highers, 2 advanced highers.

The higher classes will contain a mix of s5/S6 students.

Age at starting s5 will range (in August) from 15 years 6 months (non deferred Feb birthdays) to 16 years, 8 months (assuming some Dec birthday deferred which is becoming more common).

Assuming that those starting s5 stay on to S6 leaving in June of S6:

Youngest will leave at 17 years 4 months
Oldest will leave at 18 years 6 months.

If you move in spring (May) of 2022 your DC will be 17 years 3/4 months. They could join the school with a view to maximise qualifications in one year and leave in 2023 - the best mix if only staying in school for 1 year would be 5 highers. Your DC would then leave school at 18 years 5 months.

Theoretically you can ask for your DC to stay at school for another year and sit a wider range of subjects and/or advanced highers. It will be up to council/school to confirm that they would fund your DC until 19+ and as pp have said Scottish schools are very flexible. The sticking point would be would your DC want to stay in school when everyone her age has left.

As another option could you look at something like Interhigh which offers A levels through on line courses? I don’t know much about them but have seen Interhigh mentioned a few times in the school boards.

Thank you celtiethree I really appreciate your input and the time you've taken to explain things to me.

Worth considering the local colleges too, most will do Routes to Higher Education courses where she can do Highers outwith a traditional school setting

Their courses tend to start in August so can give some wiggle room timing wise too

At risk of confusing things even more Lomond offers a choice of highers/advanced highers or 2 year international baccalaureate programme ( starting this year). Could she start the IB in England and then transfer straight up to Lomond? Fees there about £12k a year. Probably less than private fees for equivalent in England.