Remind me what's good about living in Scotland?

[CoralPaperweight]

I moved to Scotland 25 years ago (central belt) and I've had a great life here but over the last year or so I've got increasingly itchy feet. May be a post-Covid or age thing but I'm not sure I want to stay in Scotland forever - it just doesn't seem to be as appealing to me, and even the cities seem a bit flat at the moment. Realistically, I can't disrupt DS education at the moment, he's very settled and happy so please remind me of everything that is fantastic about life in Scotland. I'm forever reading threads about people who are desperate to move to Scotland and I'm not really seeing why at the moment.

or by someone who lives in a city centre and whose life is based around a two mile radius, or by someone who doesn’t ever actually have to use public transport.

...and preferably never lives anywhere else, so that they don't know just how good things like public transport are now in other countries.

see also: the health service, local government, roads.

I was brought up in a rural town in the central belt, lived in Europe for a few years, London for 5, now 12 years back in a central belt city with kids. DH from a very far away country!

We love -

• Temperate climate - no extremes. Lush, green, cosy winters, warm spring & summer. Excellent for gardening.
• Good free education, little need for private school inequality. Children start school a bit later, deferral is encouraged, outdoor learning focus and play based curriculum. State school secondary - wellbeing and equality are as much on the agenda as exam results.
• Despite many local holidays in recent years, we still have a long list of places we want to visit/stay at in Scotland
• The beaches
• The hills, mountains, scenery
• The patter
• The culture & history
• The accessibility of everything and lack of crowds
• Family all pretty much within an hours reach

Much of this thread seems to be a comparison with England, I suppose our view is a comparison with London life only (though have holidayed all over England) and with the extremes of faraway country where DH is from - extreme climate, privatised health & education, far right politics, racism, remoteness, lots of migration and emigration = little sense of belonging, new world = lack of culture & history.

I would take issue about your comment about education. There is a BIG demand for private education in Scotland. The state system is pretty terrible to be honest.
Also.. gardening. You have to plant what will survive in this climate. I find a lot dies because of the cold and wet.
agree with the other points.

There is a BIG demand for private education in Scotland

4% of pupils in Scotland go through the private system. Hardly BIG.

There are not very many private schools.

Lots and lots of private tutoring though.

And many very very poor state schools. Hence the house prices in the good areas.

Tutoring and private schools aren’t the same thing though. There aren’t many private schools because there isn’t the demand.

Depends where you are, doesn't it? I had heard about 60% of Edinburgh school pupils attended private schools, I could be wrong.

• I am very wrong! 25%. It says here. www.heraldscotland.com/news/15017175.scottish-private-school-pupil-numbers-fall-thirty-year-low/

14% in Edinburgh according to this 2019 article:

www.scotsman.com/regions/edinburgh-fife-and-lothians/private-schools-contribute-ps125m-edinburgh-economy-report-finds-147729?amp

Nationally, it’s 4%.

www.scis.org.uk/facts-and-figures/

I'd always heard it was around 25% at secondary level. Depending on where you live/ where you work, it's a given. When we were thinking about schools the issue was whether it would be single sex or co-ed, private was a given.

One of the few private schools near us had to go from single sex to co-ed due to lack of demand and has now closed. There's minimal demand for it here.

Schools high up in league tables seem to correspond with high house prices, high pressure on children to achieve, high demand for mental health services and high drop out rates at uni. This is another discussion. But for me, that would be a poor school. Not one that merely reflects its demographic through the number of highers gained. Wellbeing, inclusion and acceptance to me, make a 'good school'. Personal and professional opinion.

Re : gardening - Surely you have to plant 'what survives' in any climate? No climate suits everything.

Re : gardening - Surely you have to plant 'what survives' in any climate? No climate suits everything.

exactly what i was thinking. Scotland has glorious soil and climate for gardening. of course things suited to warmer countries aren't going to do as well here. and vice versa.

Well to have enough pupils attending a private school you need a decent density of population so that narrows down schools to the Central Belt. Maybe there's one in Aberdeen. But I'm sure there are a good few in Edinburgh.
I'm in the SW and no private schools and a hell of a problem getting eg consultants at teh local hospital, vets, anyone who might want a private education for their DCs. The local schools are ok but if you have great aspirations academically for your DC you probably won't be happy with teh standards.

List of private schools here - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_independent_schools_in_Scotland (more than one in Aberdeen)

Of course they're going to be where the population is - they're not going to be profitable in areas of low population density. Even with the population proliferation in the Central Belt where the vast majority send their DC to state schools.

There's always the option of weekly boarding if private is that important.

Some of the 'private schools' on that list are exclusively for children with severe additional support needs - Craighalbert, New Struan (charity-run)....

Lots of private schools in Perthshire too, and Gordonstoun near Elgin.

Yes that’s right - it’s a list of all private schools across the country.

Theres plenty good about Scotland apart from a few private schools for the tiny minority who can afford them

It’s beautiful, but by god I wish it would stop raining 🤣

Ohh its sunny and dry here <runs>

Even colder and wetter today @ssd !

Here's another good thing about living in Scotland...1 mass shooting occurs, sale of handguns becomes illegal. The end.
😱😔

True @MotherOfMonkeys0

What a different world

Very true. It’s impossible to comprehend the US guns laws.