Schools around Edinburgh

[searchingforschool]

I will be moving to Scotland next year with my son now 15 for his education. I am completely new to UK.
Could somebody please advice me on good schools in the outskirts of Edinburgh. I read about East/West/Mid Lothian. Could someone advice which of these places has good schools. I also heard about grammar schools. How to find out which school is a grammar school? I also read on various threads on mumsnet that state schools in Scotland are quite good.
Could anyone please elaborate more on schools around Edinburgh area.
I would be thankful.
Many thanks!

The thing is, people can say 'oo go to Linlithgow' but Linlithgow is an attractive middle class place and house prices (rent too) are more expensive that most other areas.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned North Berwick. But that is another pretty town with very high house prices.

You need to visit places and schools yourself as there are very good schools which are not in the top-drawer towns. I don't find differences so huge between high schools in the Lothians (mid, east, west).

we love NBerwick we rent house there.

basically,any good school will be oversubscribed,and that elevates price of rent/buying

and thats the rub to secure a good school you buy or rent in tiny catchment or polish pews and do some god bothering.and thats replicated across all councils

Maybe I'm missing something, but if your son is 15 now (16 in Jan) that would put him in S5 (Highers) this year. If you're wanting to move next year, he would technically be going into S6 unless you keep him back a year.

Be aware that the curriculum is different so he may not have covered the right topics in his GCSEs to be able to do the equivalent Higher - for example, in History.

I think - and no doubt someone will tell me if I'm wrong! - that he'd also be counted as an overseas student if he then went to a Scottish uni, which would mean that you'd have to pay fees - semi-reasonable if you're from the EU, extortionate if you're not.

have you actually sorted
accommodation
school place
school starts next week

If you live in Scotland, you are treated as a Scottish student for funding. This is the case even if you are English. The term used is 'ordinarily resident', which you are if your family move to Scotland.

Where are you currently?

Yes, but you have to have been ordinarily resident in Scotland for either 3 or 5 years before the course starts.

there are time tariffs and rules,dont just rock up and live in scotland or say hoots mon aye im scottish.and hey presto free uni

haven't read all the posts, but going to say something controversial- if you can afford it go private. my foster son is at what is known to be a really good state school in west lothian, however, I still wouldn't rave about it!

Actually, I'm going to be controversial too, and say that I think you'd be doing your son a huge disservice to come to a new country, with a completely different education system at a really crucial time in his school life.

You talk about Britain and Scotland as if they are two distinct countries. Do you know that Scotland is part of GB?

If he's following the English curriculum and doing A levels, why can't he continue to do that?

I'm not usually so blunt and rude on MN, but it sounds like you have a half-arsed plan that you've not researched, and the person who will be harmed by this will be your son.

scotland,england two distinct countries educationally
scotland
No state selective or grammar school
highers 1 yr
Hons degree 4yr
free scottish uni degree if ordinarily resident and meet conditions

england
state grammar
A level 2yr
3 yr hons degree
fees for students.no free education

My foster son is at Linlithgow, and my main gripe is that they don't stream. He has special needs and I really don't think this is doing him any favours. If you really want to move somewhere in the uk with good free education go to Belfast. Really excellent grammar schools that do better than the fee paying schools and a much higher standard of living all round. Have a look at Methodist COllege Belfast, Campbell College, Belfast Royal Academy and Grosvenor. All have excellent facilities, proper school uniform and good discipline. And Belfast itself is a very friendly place to live.

Education is devolved in Scotland, so whilst Scotland is part of the UK, the education system is completely different.

School starts next week! Many of the universities start back up the week after that. Accommodation can be difficult to source in the catchment of some of those schools listed as they are also in student-y areas.

How to determine if you are 'ordinarily resident' in Scotland for university purposes (From SAAS). In summary, you must have been resident in the uk for 3 years or more and must be ordinarily living in Scotland on the relevant date (I.e. Not just have moved up to start your course):

To be eligible to apply for support you must meet our residence conditions as set out in The Students' Allowances (Scotland) Regulations 2007 (as amended) and be studying a course of higher education at HNC or equivalent level or above. To qualify for a student loan, you must meet the conditions set out in the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 and the Regulations thereunder. For more information on courses that we do and do not assist, please see our course eligibility section.

To meet the general residence conditions, you must have been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for the three years immediately before the first day of the first academic year of the course (the relevant date). For the majority of students who start their course in the autumn term, the relevant date is 1 August.

If you are not a UK or other EU national, you must also have ' settled status' in the UK (as set out in the Immigration Act 1971) on the relevant date. To find out about getting settled status, you can visit the Home Office website or phone their helpline on 0870 6067766. If you have not been living in the UK, you may still qualify depending on your circumstances.

You must also be ordinarily resident in Scotland on the relevant date, unless you are an English, Northern Irish or Welsh domiciled student taking a degree course in one of the Allied Health Professions. In this case, you must be ordinarily resident in your home country at the time you apply for your first years support.

The relevant date
The relevant date depends on when your course starts. The dates for session 2011-2012 are as follows.

1 August 2011 for courses that start between 1 August 2011 and 31 December 2011.
1 January 2012 for courses that start between 1 January 2012 and 31 March 2012.
1 April 2012 for courses that start between 1 April 2012 and 30 June 2012.

You see, sm, I don't think it's a case of 'any good school will be oversubscribed'. Certainly not in Scotland.

There are very pretty towns and areas and all teh people with money want to live somehwere pretty. Very few of them will move to Cumbernauld or Tranent. So they live in pretty places and their children go to the local schools and that school is seen as a 'good school'.

Some of these schools actually become a bit complacent, the staff hang around longer because there are fewer discipline problems and often only on exam results can they be considered the 'best schools'.

I know a school that seems to struggle if you look at exam results alone but the staff and the work they do is very very good.

good schools are oversubscribed,and house price/rental in catchments are elevated.as a rule of thumb good schools are oversubscribed.stabvest high in tends not to be as subscribed as other better schools

The thing is Scottishmummy what's a good school when SN are involved isn't the same thing at all.

Schools also do well because they've got a nice catchment area, which I'd suspect is the case in Linlithgow ( I don't know definitely as I have no experience with it) Linlithgow is always going to outperform schools in blackburn or Broxburn - but they're not neccessarily going to be doing a better job.

The primary school closest to me has the best reputation with parents, having had involvement with several parents of children with SN who attend there and attended IEP meetings - I wouldn't send a child there if you paid me, they are truely appalling, yet parents are delighted when their children get a place there

yes.thats true.but generally "good" schools over subscribed

Schools with a generally middle-class catchment are likely to have good league table results just because of their intake. They then tend to get "placing requests" from the kind of parents who want to send their child to a school which gets good results, which fills up any remaining places. (And I don't mean to sound unkind here, because it's exactly what I did)

So yes, schools which are perceived as "good" are likely to be oversubscribed.

There may still be loads of other schools which are good, add lots of value, and would give a child just as good exam results as the "high in the league table" schools, but which don't themselves end up at the top of the league table simply because of their intake being broader.

So good schools won't always be oversubscribed. But "good" schools tend to be...

I think the question for the OP is whether their family income will allow them to buy/rent in places where the schools are generally rated as "good", given that those ones are largely determined by being in an expensive location.

Or whether she needs to be asking "Who is really happy with their catchment school which happens to cover an affordable area?"

yes.oversubscribed schools elevate house price/rental cost
its a straight select desired school and figure can you afford to rent or buy to guarantee catchment area

The school does not come before the desirable area though.

It was not the good school in Linlithgow or North Berwick that attracted everyone to the towns.

Linlithgow and North Berwick were pretty places, the wealthier flocked to them, house prices went up to reflect and maintain exclusivity of the wealthy, the schools became "good". (Agree with your speech mark distinction, MIS.)

The wealthy nab all the pretty places.

gentrification does change areas and schools.yes
it elevates house prices and rental costs,and makes schools oversubscribed

As mentioned, my foster son is at linlithgow, and I would have to say that while there are certainly a large number of middle class children there, there are also plenty from fairly deprived areas. The centre of Linlithgow itself is fairly pretty and there are a lot of professional people who have moved out of Edinburgh due to the good train link, however in my experience I would say that there are lots of large pockets of poverty across West Lothian as a whole.