Moving from England to Scotland with a 13 year old

[Kittyglitter4all]

Hi, I’m really hoping for advice please. I currently live in the North East of England with DD 13 and DS 7. All my family live in Inverness and I’d love to move to be closer to them. I currently struggle with child care when at work as there’s just me (Dad has not been involved since son was born, whole other story, involves him running off after an affair, solicitors say I’m fine to move as he’s not an active parent and I’d be moving to a place with family support so not out of spite etc). So being closer to family would mean I could better juggle work and childcare.
DD would love to move as she adores her cousins. How easy is it for a 13 year old to slot into a Scottish high school please? I don’t know if I’m best to wait until after her GCSES which would be 2026 or to take the plunge now! Any advice would be massively appreciated. Thanks for reading.

Hi OP, you might be better popping this into Scotsnet for more location specific information. When is your daughters birthday? The cut off dates to determine what year she'd be in are different to England.

Schools in Scotland will start the Nat 5 study (rough equivalent to gcse) in either 3rd or 4th year depending on area/school. Actually usually start at the end of the term before breaking up for summer but I wouldn't worry too much about that.

So I think moving before starting 3rd year would probably be the best time for the least issues with education transition.

I think those commencing 3rd year this summer would be born from approx 1/3/09 to 28/2/10 but there will also be some older previously deferred pupils. The years aren't as strict as they might be in England.

Hope this helps.

what’s her birthday?

At 13 your DD will likely be second year from August although some schools like ours you move up a year in May so would possibly already be a second year.

Id consider a move now before exam time kicks in. Prelims will be November time in her 4th year so 15 or just about 15 depending on Birthday. Exams for Nat 5 will be the following May.

If I can give an example, my DS is a July 2008 birthday. He’s just gone into 4th year (May) so prelims and exams this year and next.

If you are going to move do it before 3rd year. It will be much easier for your child to adjust at that age and before Nat 4 and 5 s start.

And ask MNHQ to move this to scotsnet

Thanks so much for these replies! I’ve been honestly so lost and this is a great help. Her birthday is 01/02/10. Looks like im going to just take the scary plunge and go for it!
Im so sorry im not sure on how to ask to move this thread 🙈

Click report on your post and you’ll get to ask HQ to shift it over for you.

With a February 2010 birthday, she could start second year in Scotland. That will giver her a chance to get settled before she has to choose her National 5 subjects.

I would also suggest entry into S2 this August. She will experience the full range of subjects and be much better placed to make informed choices for her Nat5s in 2024. Depending on the school, a large percentage of January and February birthdays will also have deferred so she would be one of the oldest in the year (definite advantage) but not out of place.

Take the plunge now. She’s got a really late birthday for the Scottish intake year (runs to end of feb not the end of august) so she can go back into s2 as a deferral. That will give her time to settle before going into her nat4/ nat5 courses.

for those that come later - moving after GCSEs is harder - the courses don’t tie up perfectly between gcse and nat5, and the school you move to might not offer a choice in highers that align to the structure you’ve moved from - much easier to move pre-s3.

Agree with going for S2 entry. The cut off in Scotland is 28th Feb so if she went into S3 next school year she'll be amongst the youngest in the year. Better to be at the older end of the year.
Lots of Jan/Feb birthdays are deferred so will be other kids the same age.
Don't wait until after GCSEs. With some subjects they don't dovetail very smoothly into the Scottish Higher curriculum. Gives her plenty time settle into the Scottish system before the exam years.
Good luck, Inverness is fab and plenty incomers so they'll be fine

definitely defer so she is starting S2 in August ( some schools start new syllabus in May when National exams start ) my DD is 13 but a december birthday so she has just started her S3 options om 9th May ( legally your daughter can be S3)
I would strongly suggest S2 so she can get a feel for Scottish slant on some subjects and what options are, the main differences are in Social subjects like History where approx 50% is Scottish history, English will include far more Scottish authors ( English Language and Literature are not separate subjects generally)

try not to be in Catchment for Inverness High school as it's results are in the bottom 10 in Scotland, try for Millburn or Culloden instead

Thank you all so much. My family all live CullodenBalloch way so I’d love to be that side. I went past Culloden Academy a few days ago while we we were up for a visit and I was very impressed!
Going to get my house valued this week and get started with plans. I’m absolutely terrified but also excited at the same time!