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Scotsnet

Welcome to Scotsnet - discuss all aspects of life in Scotland, including relocating, schools and local areas.

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Original poster

Best ways to get a sense of living in Scotland

29 replies

Pieandchips999 · 25/08/2025 20:15

Has anyone made the move from England to Scotland and can recommend the best way for us to make sense of the differences?
I've mostly grown up in England and my wife is English. I'm half Scottish and half Canadian and was born in South Africa.

Trying to work out whether to relocate and if so where. We love Edinburgh but so do a lot of people and it's very expensive of course. My Dad was Glaswegian but not sure if that would be my top pick. Debating maybe Troon but not really sure where to begin.

Also we're a same sex female couple so needs to be somewhere where we would be welcome. I know I prefer the education and house buying system but beyond that need to do a lot more research

OP posts:

NosnowontheScottishhills · 01/09/2025 17:16

Tractortrailer · 01/09/2025 14:23

The syllabus and teaching in Scotland is very inflexible once you get into the exam years (from 4th year) - it's just teaching to the exams, with huge emphasis on writing your exam paper in the right way (eg including 2 points not 3, and using the right words (apparently if you say precipitation instead of rain you don't get a mark). The children don't actually seem to learn much, let alone develop their own essay-writing style or critical thinking. The first 3 years are not exam years and our experience there was that not much work was done and everything was very basic (because why push the children / teachers if there's no exam at the end of the year?). There was very, very little homework. However the children are performing, parents are told that they're meeting expectations (because the teacher's expectations are low, both generally and for your child).
Another problem is the narrower choice of subjects in Scottish schools. Even mainstream subjects are often not available in the 6th year (there's only one 6th year in Scotland). And in the earlier years the small number of exams sat by pupils (maximum of 5 in the 5th year, generally) means that if a child does a soft subject they miss out on an important subject. So I think it's much more difficult to justify them doing a soft subject in Scotland than in England, where they may be sitting 10 or 12 GCSEs. There's also pressure to decide between the arts and the sciences very young.
Both children and parents are told that what pupils are doing is hard, the exams are tough, etc, etc. So they believe it. I have Ukrainian friends living locally, and they've noticed that their primary school child is doing very little at school, has no homework, but has been led to believe by teachers that he's working really hard and will be tired after school (finishes at 3). So he claims that he just needs to relax and watch tv when he gets home. They're quite shocked by it.
Schools must vary, for the usual reasons, but the schools around us are supposed to be above average.

It’s so easy to believe the pasture is greener somewhere else. I trained in a MAT teaching a progress 8 subject from yr 9 that’s 13 yr olds going in 14 all we talked about was to get a pass in your GCSEs in 2-3 years time you need to write this use these words/phrase do this this diagram. The head of the dept her salary and its annual increase was dependent on how many passed so that was our sole focus. This is why I left I wasn’t teaching my subject I wasn’t inspiring them I was teaching kids how to regurgitate facts onto a piece of paper and use certain phrases words etc.
In England in primary 4 year olds are being taught phonics despite the fact that most experts believe it’s too early and getting homework despite lots evidence it makes no difference in primary. In year 2 and 6 of primary the children do SATS which impact on a schools position in league so the whole year is geared up passing these and in many schools year 5 is also geared up to this. Then in some areas there’s the dreaded test for grammar school entry, where most parents tutor their kids into the ground often from yr 3 to get them to pass it. I despaired how education in England is obsessed with passing exams over everything else.
Finally unbeknown to many parents MATs don’t have to employ qualified teachers, in the school I was training in cover teachers were unqualified (and shockingly badly paid) and teaching 6 -7 lessons a day, certainly in my subject their knowledge was sketchy at best and actually incorrect at worst and their grip on behaviour non existent at times.
Do I think Scottish education is better? I’ve no idea Im prepared to except that it’s equally as bad but I do know that English education in many schools is bloody awful that most schools in both the independent and state sectors are total exam factories and I’m so glad my kids are now adults.

SpencerGarciaGideon · 20/09/2025 00:14

I'm from a town in South Lanarkshire. I'm well educated and work in childcare. I moved to Yorkshire for a while and it was an eye opener. Moved back to south Lanarkshire but a smaller town. I hate it. Currently in the process of a swap to North Ayrshire. I heard recently that Kilmarnock is a very welcoming area for the LGBTQ community from a friend whom is seeing someone from there. My DD is very well educated from her school, passing all of her exams and my DS is heading down the same path. Free prescriptions. Free parking at most hospitals. Lovely cold water straight from the tap. Canny beat Scotland lol

EBoo80 · 20/09/2025 07:47

Lots of mixed views here. I think most of them will vary by where you end up.

What varies less is the darkness in winter. It doesn’t trouble me at all, but it is the one undeniable difference that does seem to put some people off. Could you spend a week in Scotland at February half term (if you get one). I feel like February is the low point for many.

notanotherone22 · 20/09/2025 13:36

Note house buying system isn’t what it used to be. Missives are not signed until the last minute usually, so people can and do pull out up till last minute. higher stamp duty. blind bidding and closing dates with offers over system is extremely stressful. You will be over paying for vast majority of houses in popular areas so need cash lump sum not a mortgage as bank won’t lend over what it’s worth.
As mentioned up thread the Home Reports you get (ie a “survey”) aren’t worth the paper they’re written on, full of caveats covering the surveyor for anything they missed. If you want to know about specific issues like damp, asbestos, subsidence, structural you need to pay for specialist surveys which for closing date homes you often won’t have time to do (if seller would even allow it) before offering.
You can of course get lucky, and things go smoothly. New builds are a good idea/less stress. Just pointing out although it’s maybe not as bad as England, it’s often still a fecking nightmare, so do some research in advance.

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