Possible move to Scotland from England but should we be concerned about education?

[Wouldliketomove]

Hello Everyone,

As the title says, DH and I are carefully researching a possible move to Scotland for our family (two toddlers currently) but I am constantly reading worrying things about education in Scotland. I'm aware there are also soon to be significant changes, which complicates things further and introduces more unknowns.

Can anyone with experience either as teachers or parents offer a perspective on education in Scotland at the moment please or any further insight into what is to come? I have tried to read what is widely available.

Thanks very much in advance

Im Scottish but living in south of England. Many friends and family with kids in both systems. The Scottish system is a lot more straight forward. You live somewhere, you go to whatever school you are allocated in that catchment and 99% of the time you go to that school. You may get a placement request for another but unlikely. So you basically know what school you will go to (unless you can go private). Where we are there are so many options, selective school, catholic school, sports / other scholarship, this borough, another boriugh, banded tests , sats. It goes on!

However, the English system gives you choice. There also sixth form colleges that you can go to so an exit point from a crap secondary. Nothing like that exists. Scotland has a truelly comprehensive system.

I think A levels are far better than highers. When I was at school it was very rare to get 5As and now it's not. From what my friends and family say the standard has been weathered down a lot. I also noticed (I went to uni in England) that is Scots were younger and not as well prepared as the English students. I was 17 when I went to uni, even though I did 6th year. Far too young. So I would be wary to be honest. The safest bet is to head to a solid middle class catchment if you can but also be careful as sometimes if the school is full you may be sent to a less desirable one in the county.

The pay off is a free university education - if this lasts.

They aren't excluded.

And as isn't an excuse to hurt others.

Agree that the specialised schools need re opened.

My DCs primary and secondary schools had setting. There were 5 different levels for Maths at primary and three at secondary.

At their secondary there were kids sitting exams early and others who were working their way up through Nat 4, Nat 5, Highers. There was a lot of flexibility.

I’m sure it differs a lot between schools. I went to a very rural school which wasn’t very big and the breadth of curriculum wasn’t terrible but certainly didn’t have the range of that others I met at uni had. This was one of the reasons I chose to be in a city. Sometimes even if a school does offer all the options a pupil wants to do, they might not fit into the timetable options but if there is another school close by offering the same subject at a different time, going there for that subject can make things work.

My DCs school isn’t middle class but has done well for mine, DC1’s friend went to Oxbridge and a few usually do every year. I’ve explicitly asked the DCs about disruption and they just looked bemused and said no (and it wouldn’t take much to freak them out). I think sometimes the less middle class schools are more equipped to deal with issues but that’s just based on anecdotes and I accept I could be talking utter bollocks.

It was very rare to get 5A at Highers wheh I was at school and no, it’s not now (both mine have 5As and they are clever enough and pretty organised but I don’t think they are geniuses
and nor to do they). The same must hold in England though with A levels? I think 30% of grades are A (inc A*) for both systems.

I do think the A level system is much more stressful. There is a general sense up here that if unless you have very specific course targets such as medicine etc then if things don’t go as expected in S5 then S6 gives a chance to fix things.

This isn’t a comment about the different UK systems but I have just watched a friend’s DC go to a good uni via an HND which was a good reminder that there are other routes out there to get to the same place.

I will say though, both my DCs worked far far harder at school than I ever did (and I think I studied a similar amount to friends). They also took available help much more readily than I did. I don’t remember it being around as much when I was at school but there may have been some -
I don’t think there was nearly such a culture of going to lunchtime or after school extra study sessions. At DCs school there was absolutely no vibe of it being uncool to work hard.