Catholic primary schools

[ByShyPeachBeaker]

My DH has been offered a job in Aberdeen. Our children ages 5 and 8 are currently attending a Catholic primary school in England, and have both been baptised at our local Catholic church. We attend frequently as a family when our work in the hospitality industry permits.
I am aware of the differences in age of starting school between England and Scotland but as both our children have October birthdays they will just move from being one of the oldest in the year to the middle.
My understanding is that each area has a catchment 'state' and also a Catholic alternative? Before we move to Aberdeen in November, do we just contact the catchment Catholic school and request places for our children? .My question may seem simplistic but after seeing friends of ours move to other places in England and have great difficulty securing places at schools due to popular ones being oversubscribed, it just seems that the Scottish system is so much easier to navigate and I'm wondering if we have missed any potential problems.

You haven't missed anything, I would personally give the school a ring to enquire in the first instance, they won't be able to enroll without confirmation of your address with a move in date at the very least but they should be able to give you an idea of spaces. Schools do get full up here too, but you're right that it is often more straightforward than the system in England. Good luck with the move!

Thank you for your prompt response and good wishes. At the moment we are looking at renting one of two potential houses which I think are in neighbouring catchments .As soon as we have a definite address we will contact the relevant school.

Have you researched the catholic school system in Scotland? I think it’s different from the English system. And once you opted for one people don’t tend to switch. In Edinburgh catholic schools tend to have massive catchments compared to non-denominational.

Also depending on the age of your children an October birthday can be very young in class since a lot of the younger kids maybe P2-3 and below are now deferred. This is area dependent but worth asking if your kids are younger.

My children are going into years 1 and 4 at their English school. They will have their 6th and 9th birthdays before we move. There is a possibility that we will have to move back south of the border in three years time because my DH is being offered a three year fixed term contract. I want to reserve the possibility of them coming back into school years 7 and 4 in England in 2028 . I am aware of the fact that more children start school later in Scotland but I want my children to go into the correct years for their dates of birth. Hopefully we will stay in Scotland but for now we have to get there!

Apply for a school place | Aberdeen City Council

I'm not sure about each area having a catchment RC school as I think there are only 3 RC primaries in Aberdeen. Up here we tend to put children to their catchment primary school. There is hardly any looking around to put them to a "good" school. If you know which area you're likely to be living in, you could contact the RC school that's nearest.
Hope that makes sense.

Hi, if you're in the catchment then your child will get a place. Up here if there is one child over from the catchment we employ another teacher. Good luck!