East Ayrshire and info on schools

[LillienLeo]

Hi all, DH and I are looking at a move to Scotland, he's originally from East Ayrshire and his parents are still there, so this is likely when we'd go. DC are 5, 8 and 10

His parents are in Stewarton but there is a house we like in Kilmaurs - anyone know these areas? DH has said he'd rather not move than live in Kilmarnock so that's out and he'd like us to be on a train line and near his parents so it feels like the only options are Kilmaurs, Stewarton and Dunlop.
I don't know the areas at all, I'm also finding it hard to find out about the schools, is ofsted gradings not a thing (like Outstanding, Good etc.)

School wise I believe it would be Stewarton Academy for my eldest in 2025 - anyone have any experience of here?

Then primary would most likely be the catchment school? So Kilmaurs if we go for that house - anyone have any experience?

Anywhere else we should look? Are these places super undesirable or relatively nice?

I don’t know anything about the schools but I have family who live in Kilmaurs and they quite like it.
They have said it’s fairly quiet and drive to Kilmarnock/ Stewarton and Irvine to do their shopping as there’s only small shops in Kilmaurs.

Kilmaurs and Stewarton are both pretty nice towns. There are certainly worse places to live in East Ayrshire. I have a couple of friends with kids at Stewarton Academy and from what I have been told it is a pretty good school.

Fenwick is also a decent place to live although I think it is in the catchment for Loudoun Academy rather than Stewarton. Kilmarnock is much bigger and has some nice areas but has some awful estates as well. Like many midsize towns, the town centre has become a ghost town as everyone goes up to Silverburn if they want to go shopping.

OP, you may be able to find inspection reports here:

https://education.gov.scot/inspection-and-review/find-an-inspection-report/find-an-inspection-report/?searchFor=schoolsOrganisations&orderAlias=relevance

I don't know that part of Ayrshire well but I do work in education in a neighbouring area and know that EAC is generally not a high performing area. All the schools are in the lower half of Scottish league tables for attainment - but Stewarton is the best most years (alternates with the catholic school). That of course means little for individual kids but could (IME) mean the lower years, before classes are set, are more disruptive than you'd like. If your kids can cope with this that's fine but it depends what they are used to in current school.

Interesting, just had a look at the 2024 rankings and Stewarton was 107th, so just in the top 3rd - would this be seen as good?

Are there other council areas we should look at with better Education? Maybe a middle ground between being near the in-laws and good schools for the kids.

That's quite a jump so does sound very positive that they are doing something right at Stewarton. If you can afford the premium on housing for the privilege of getting into catchment, then it's really not far up the M77 from East Renfrewshire which is consistently the top performing local education authority in Scotland, as in most of the top 10 schools I think. It has its pros and cons but there is no arguing that the schools are much better. You also then have the benefit of being closer to Glasgow rather than in deepest Ayrshire. It depends what you are used to and what you are looking for but there is a lot more to do, especially for the kids, closer to the city.