Relocation to Edinburgh

[Roshan1]

Dear all,
I am looking to relocate to Edinburgh very soon and need good advice on secondary schools preferably in the ED12 postcode area.My son currently in independent year 7 and i would like to know both independent and state school options please .Its crucial i sort this out and all depends on this.please name few good and worthy schools to try.Also please advice on St.Augustines.R.C.high school??,i was told this is the nearest to the postcode..not sure how education system work in Edinburgh..

oops the postcode search is EH129ET

Hi- have a look at the city of Edinburgh website which has loads of information about the city schools. www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/878/schools
For that postcode, your catchment secondary is Forrester High School or, if you are Catholic the catchment is St Augustines. These two schools have brand new buildings (about 2-3 years old) and are joined together sharing sports hall and playing field facilities. The physical facilities are fantastic, but the mixed catchment area of South Gyle (largely privately owned smallish- medium sized houses) and large areas of council housing means that the academic performance is mixed- suggest you do some independent research on this.
The age groups for transition to secondary school in Scotland is different to England. Here, pupils go to secondary in August/ Sept as long as they will be 12 by the end of the following February. You will automatically be offered a place in your local catchment school once you are resident in the area, but you can apply for an out of catchment place in another school if you wish- however this process starts in the previous year of entry so you would be too late for Sept 2013.
In Edinburgh as a whole at secondary school level up to 25% of pupils are at private schools. This is way out of proportion to the rest of Scotland and the UK but is a historic situation due to a high number of good quality private schools in the city for the last 100+ years. The major schools are : George Watsons, George Heriots, Edinburgh Academy, Mary Erskine (girls) and Stewart Melville (boys), St Georges (Girls). Average annual fees about £10.5-£11k

This is a useful website for finding information on all schools (State and Private) regarding exam results/ free school meals/ absenteeism etc. Don't put too much store by the inspection reports as they are often 5+ years out of date and totally irrelevant today. Edinburgh Schools online

St Augustines was a bit of a sh!t hole back in my day - had about as good a reputation as Forrester High next door did. - I did leave school 30 years ago though. I went to Firrhill which had a much better Rep and think it still does - just caught the public bus every day. You can apply to any school at any time but applications made after 30 March are considered after those made before. If there is a space at the school you will get it. When is his birthday? To go to 1st year High School it would need to be between 1 March 2001 and 28th Feb 2002 there is a little flexibility but in general if he was older than that he would go into 2nd year High school and if younger then into P7 primary when schools go back in August this year.

Loads of Private schools but also some good council schools - James Gillespies is good as is Burghmuir and think Royal High was okay too as well as Firrhill. All on your side of the city. Balerno is also good and at that end of the city.

Meant to say, you are entitled to a place at your catchment High school - this will be Forrester I think unless you are a baptised catholic in which case you can apply for a place at your nearest catholic school. That will be granted. If you are not Catholic, you can still apply in the same way as you can for any other school (they don't even need to be in the same council but you will be considered after those applying from the same council area).

Here is info on making a placing request.

www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/879/school_and_nursery_places/937/school_places/4

If exam success is important. here is a breakdown of how the Edinburgh council schools did last year:

news.stv.tv/scotland/205123-school-league-tables-exam-and-performance-details-for-edinburgh/

The majority of those performing above average are on the west or south of the city so could be possibles for you.

Hi
I am looking to relocate to Edinburgh very soon .my DD got place last year in st George's but due to my son's GCSE exam we didnt accepted the place now they're asking for maths ,English,verbal and non verbal reasoning test in January 2018 .
Dont know how to preare her for the assessment. Any advice please