Possible move to Glasgow from London

[banhmi]

Over two years ago, I started a thread in Property/DIY on whether to move to Leeds, Newcastle or Glasgow from London (Leeds, Newcastle or Glasgow? | Mumsnet). I received some really good advice and got most excited about the idea of a move to Glasgow. For various reasons, particularly a slow but steady increase in pressure to return to our offices, a move didn't happen and we were starting to resign ourselves to staying in London at least until the kids finished secondary school. However, I have just been offered a good job based in Glasgow (near the airport) and I need to decide whether to accept it in the next week or so. Argh! I'm negotiating on pay and we also need to decide whether we think DH will manage to get his work to agree to a remote contract. So not in the bag by any means.

In the meantime I'm not sure what I'm asking, really - some general words of encouragement about family life in Glasgow?! Because obviously I am now freaking out about throwing everything up in the air. And maybe some specific advice on potential areas and schools....

We'd be looking to rent, at least initially, possibly long-term (two years) if we decide to let our London house rather than sell up, to give ourselves a back-out plan if we need one. But the rental market looks a bit insane in Glasgow - worried we wouldn't find anything nice where we wanted. So maybe we would just decide to be brave and rent only as long as it takes us to sell up in London!

There was a lot of debate on the thread I started a while back about West End v East Renfrewshire/East Dunbartonshire, especially re schools. I think my instinct, coming from SE London, is still that we would feel most at home in the West End and like the idea of a good comprehensive with a broad socio-economic mix. We would have a very decent budget (£1m) if/when it came to buying thanks to a lucky buy in an up-and-coming area a decade ago, not sure about rental though. Where would people recommend? We live very near two good parks and a small high street with all the essentials in SE London, as well as good public transport so would be looking for as many of these things as possible.

Schools-wise, where would you recommend starting a search in the West End? Are local (state) primaries much of a muchness? Is it a nightmare to get in-year spaces? I don't even know what years my children would be going into - DS is 8 (born December 2015) so I think we'd have a choice (spaces dependant) about whether he went into a year full of mainly older children or mainly younger ones? DD is nearly 6 (born April 2018) so a bit more straightforward for her I think?

Both kids are bright, happy and settled and doing the usual roster of activities (DS - football, cubs, taekwondo; DD - dance, singing, gymnastics, they both do swimming and junior parkrun). Is it relatively easy to get new kids into activities and after-school care or are there masses of waiting lists etc? Are newcomers welcomed or will they find it difficult to fit in with their south London accents?! (they call everyone 'bro' at the moment....).

And when it came to secondaries, what are the main differences between Hyndland and Hillhead? (I think these are the two main state options that aren't Catholic?). And overall, how worried should I be about moving to the Scottish education system at seemingly not a great time: Scottish schools have tumbled from top of the class. This is what went wrong | Sonia Sodha | The Guardian Are there redeeming features compared to England?!

Sorry for the ramble, thanks so much for any advice!

That's really useful to know about renting - thank you! Would you recommend any agents? There doesn't seem to be much on Rightmove in our budget!

Westend all the way!

Hyndland is an excellent school. Jordanhill can be accessed for secondary after a few years in catchment, unless it's a really heavy year. Another 33 places open up. I'd opt for a school in catchment of Jordanhill, but ensure it's in Hyndland Secondary catchment too if you are looking at state.

Private, High School of Glasgow and Glasgow Academy would be my choices, both in West end. Kirklee is where I grew up, it's beautiful, some gorgeous houses but sometimes parking is a nightmare on the streets where its still free to park.

Good luck!

So I understand the Scottish v English education system going back the way with there being 13 years of school in Scotland and 14 in England.
S6 = Y13
S5 = Y12
S4 = Y11
S3 = Y10
S2 = Y9
S1 = Y8
P7 = Y7
P6 = Y6
P5 = Y5
P4 = Y4
P3 = Y3
P2 = Y2
P1 = Y1

My understanding is that reception is more like the last year of nursery so I don't see how your daughter would be missing out on any education! I moved from the English to the Scottish system and didn't miss out!

West end is lovely but I would definitely consider the southside as well although I can't comment on the secondary schools in the southside. Hyndland and Hillhead seem to get similar reviews. Have also heard some really positive comments about Notre Dame but obviously that's catholic if that's not what you're looking for. I agree with the above poster saying to avoid Clevden.

I can't really speak for the standard of education now as it's been a while (!) since I was in school but for me moving from England up north was the best decision and I could never see myself moving back down south. Glasgow is brilliant and so so close to the most beautiful countryside so you never feel like you're trapped in the city. My parents are from here so we had a lot of family around but there're so many English families around I doubt that would be an issue!

Good luck!

West end is lovely and moving from London, Hyndland or Hillhead would likely suit you extremely well, but in your op you said you needed 4 bedrooms and separate office space. I think you will be hard pushed to find this even with your budget. So many of the mansion houses have been split into flats and i dont think many of them have 5+ bedrooms even for £1m. Broomhill is a bit cheaper, maybe more chance there.

Oh gosh quite confused now re whether English year 3 is P3 as per your message or P4 as per dontcrymysweetpotato!

But lovely to have such a great endorsement of Glasgow. Vibrant city life with better access to amazing countryside is a big driver of this potential move.

We're not looking to buy an absolutely massive house - we're currently in a four bed but it's only 125 sq m in total. We both manage to work from home most of the time too. More space would be nice but definitely not wanting some epic mansion.

I think there is some flexibility around what year to go into whereas in England it seems more rigid (I might be wrong though!). I left the English system in y11 having finished GCSEs and started S5 for the first year of highers so I didn't miss out. My younger sister moved in primary but I can't remember how old she was or what year she went from and into. I think the difference in ages makes it a bit more confusing because when I was at school there were people who were over a year younger than me in my year and people who were the same age in the year above! I was completely baffled at how people were going to uni at 17 or 16 in some cases if they got the grades they needed after S5!

I would speak to the schools and get some more clarity though!

You could buy my whole street for £1m.

@GlassAnimal You might be talking about the content being similar but you're wrong as to which the OP's daughter would be in. Also P7 is the last year of primary school in Scotland so not the equivalent of Year 7 England which is the first year of high school.

In Scotland the birthday cutoff is the end of Feb. So kids born between 1st March 2018 and 28th Feb 2019 will (normally) be in P1 now.

In England the birthday cutoff is the end of Aug. So kids born between 1st Sept 2017 and 31st Feb 2018 will (normally) be in Year 1 (2nd year of primary school) now.

I was the youngest in my Scottish school class with an end of Feb birthday but middle of the class in England.

I think Broomhill primary is meant to be good and i think they have a new school building also. If you look at properties around Randolph Road, Rowallan Gardens etc, you'd be able to get a decent sized house between about 700k and 1m. Don't forget that with the offers over system houses will tend to sell for substantially more than their offers over price.

I can only really speak of my own experience! There's 7 years of secondary school in England and 6 in Scotland so when I was in year 7 in England my Scottish peers were in P7 when I was in year 8 they were in S1 and so on until I joined S5 when I would have been Y12. I don't think it matches up perfectly as the cut offs are so different!

I'd agree with others Hyndland, Broomhill or Jordanhill.

Broomhill would be an excellent choice, good schools, nice wee row of shops, close to the park, great train to city centre and about 15 minutes to the airport. The primary school has a good reputation.

Jordanhill is lovely too, there's a new Cala development but it isn't in the catchment for the school. You may get a space at the high school if you move into a list one property but primary is unlikely.

There's not much on at the moment but likely more will be on after Easter.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145535069#/?channel=RES_BUY

Apologies, my post was unclear, i meant that most of the styles in that area are old style mansion flats. They are fabulous, often with huge room sizes and big wide open halls, but you dont often get more than 3 bedrooms or if you find 4 bedrooms, 1 is often instead of having a separate dining room. They are fabulous properties but in my opinion not ideal for having lots of living space, multiple bedrooms as well a home office. If you keep your eye out there will be some that come up, but id say this type of property is more uncommon.

Curve ball... Have you looked at Helensburgh? Lovely houses and easy access to the airport area via the Erskine Bridge. Lomond School offers the IB, if you're planning ahead.

Ah I totally see what you mean, thanks. Yes we'd probably just have to hang on until something suitable came up or consider a nearby area with slightly different housing stock like Broomhill possibly. I love the look of some of the mansion flats but having spent a decade in a semi I'm not sure it'd be my first choice.

I think we're probably city people, but will check it out, sounds great.

Mh friend spent £1m on a townhouse in hyndland nearly 20 years ago. It drove her nuts that she couldn't get parked anywhere near her house especially when her kids were babies or she had loads of shopping.

If I had that amount to spend I'd definitely be buying a detached house a bit further out. You could get a mansion for your budget south side.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145535069?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY
You could get this in Broomhill OP.

That house has been posted 3 times in this thread now!

Oops

It's a really lovely house! This is exactly the kind of thing I'd like. Maybe with a marginally bigger garden but now I'm just being fussy :)

Thankfully we are well past the babies stage and are much more interested in front garden storage for bikes than bothered about walking a couple of streets to park. We'd like to go electric for our next car though so I should probably factor that in.

I live in Renfrewshire not far from Glasgow Airport live it! Have done for 29!Years❤️

P1 is in between reception and Y1. My kids (non leafy) school the starting point is the same as reception but it moves faster through the content.

DD did reception in England before starting P1 ( August birthday) and socially is definitely in the right year but academically would fit year above so it's handy she's been in a mixed year (composite).

She's largely kept pace with the English maths curriculum according to Maths Factor, literacy is less easy to correlate, but not all topics are covered in the same order and the literacy teaching includes sight words as well as phonically decodable words.

For a job near Glasgow Airport I'd be leaning towards the nice bits of Southside/East Ren over the West End because a short commute is always better... or at least keep an open mind on location.

Although the "Subway" is very limited there's a decent sized network of "overground" lines for transport, and kids get free bus travel with the young Scot card.

Do you absolutely have to go to Glasgow? It's not at its best just now, and kids even in the West End will see poverty and drug taking they just won't in the centre of London.
If you aren't in the office a lot you should consider Edinburgh, there are regular trains every 30 minutes and they are cheap by London standards.