Edinburgh private schools

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If you could send your child to any of the edinburgh private secondary schools which would you and why?

Specifically if you had a bright but relatively naive DS - quite young for his age emotionally, friendly and fun, but a rule follower who will probably never be 'cool', but also sporty - athletics/racket sports/swimming rather than rugby/football....

Just trying to think ahead - he's p5 at the moment and we are considering private for secondary, but not sure where would suit him best? He also has a younger sister who seems similar, but is probably too early to tell for sure, but it's a consideration as would ideally have them at same school or close by at least in terms of logistics.

The best way to look at Edinburgh private schools is examine your budget and where you live. Loretto, Merchiston and Fettes cost considerably more than the rest. North Edinburgh = Edinburgh Academy and Stuart Melville, South = Watson’s or Heriots. Heriots is more academic. Watsons more sporty. St George’s is nice and nurturing but is girls only.

It is said to be less competitive trying to get them in pre-secondary, so if you are worried they might fail the entrance exam, go for entry in late primary instead.

Heriots would seem like a good choice if your ds is bright and likes academics. They have a good rowing team which may be of interest. Your dd could also attend. If you live in the new town then id go for EA for ease of access. I would only consider Fettes/Loretto if you wanted to board - i don't know much about them. Depending where you were loretto could be a fair commute. Merchiston is all boys. Have you visited any of them?

My son was at Watson's from junior nursery to 6th year. We picked it because it's fully co-ed and we knew more people who had connections with Watson's than Heriot's. There was no selection for nursery and a very nominal selection for primary and once you're in they're not going to refuse moving to secondary.

My son wasn't particularly sporty and that didn't matter. It had an excellent music department. He did Advanced Higher music and his degree is in music.