Contemplating a move from London to Scotland (Edinburgh outskirts )

[Deleted User]

Would your children want to live at home at go to university? Maybe they don’t want to be confined to choosing a university in the central belt with a long commute? 

Waiting until your eldest has finished her GCSE and then moving her into a new education system right before university might be a bit of a jump. I did standard grades and highest at school, I know the system has changed a bit now with National 3,4 and 5 now but I was able to go straight to university from 5th year with my Higher results. You also needs more Highers than A-levels to get into university so that means studying more subjects. 

mattyprice4004

It’s a lovely place to live, my partner’s family live just outside Edinburgh and she spent a few years in the city before moving to NW England. 

The people are nice, scenery is stunning and there’s some fantastic roads for bikers (used to enjoy them in my M5 whenever I got the chance!) 

Arfa__

@zagubov Yes, I like the look of Stirling too and would consider there as my most Northern point.

@fewcloudy Yep, Linlithgow is on my list of places to check out. I was also looking at others on those routes like Polmont, Bathgate and Livingston.

Currently, the kids seem keen on Uni and future careers that would necessitate Uni. Sure, they may not live from home (and I'd probably encourage them to move out for a few years for the experience), but for them to return home at weekends/holidays easily has advantages. However, it is probably my need to travel that is a higher priority to be near Edinburgh.

@Lover_of_Lycra yeah, it's this quick jump to Uni after S5 that I'm struggling to get my head around. So used to there being 2 years of A-levels between school and Uni. Agreed, for her to jump into 1 year of Highers in S5 after GCSEs could be tough, but on the flip side, I worry about pulling her out of current school mid-way through GCSEs... This is our biggest dilemma, when is the best time to move for our kids' education? Last year, this year, next year or the year after? 

I do wonder if we should look at a private school/college that does A-levels or the IB instead of throwing her into Highers...

fewcloudy

Arfa__ said:

@Lover_of_Lycra yeah, it's this quick jump to Uni after S5 that I'm struggling to get my head around. So used to there being 2 years of A-levels between school and Uni. Agreed, for her to jump into 1 year of Highers in S5 after GCSEs could be tough, but on the flip side, I worry about pulling her out of current school mid-way through GCSEs... This is our biggest dilemma, when is the best time to move for our kids' education? Last year, this year, next year or the year after? 

I do wonder if we should look at a private school/college that does A-levels or the IB instead of throwing her into Highers...

@Arfa__
The 2 years of A Levels roughly correspond to S5 and S6 up here.
Academic students can take for example Higher Maths in S5, and then Advanced Higher Maths in S6.
For comparison, an A grade in Advanced Higher is worth 56 UCAS points. An A grade in A Level is worth 48 UCAS points.
However, as you know it is not about a total number of points, and entrance requirement is expressed as a certain number of essential subjects at Higher.  Universities will usually also state what their entrance requirements are in terms of Advanced Highers, or A Levels, or IB etc.

As someone mentioned, it is possible for a pupil to go to Uni after S5, but this is uncommon, not least because they could potentially be quite young when starting Uni depending upon their DOB.
For example, I only turned 16 in December back when I was in S5, so would have been about 16yrs 10mths old in the following October if i had gone to University instead of S6. But age is just a number and maturity is what matters and it does happen.

I do not agree when you say "for her to jump into 1 year of Highers in S5 after GCSEs could be tough".  That sounds like the correct time.

davidmcn

fewcloudy said:

Arfa__ said:

@Lover_of_Lycra yeah, it's this quick jump to Uni after S5 that I'm struggling to get my head around. So used to there being 2 years of A-levels between school and Uni. Agreed, for her to jump into 1 year of Highers in S5 after GCSEs could be tough, but on the flip side, I worry about pulling her out of current school mid-way through GCSEs... This is our biggest dilemma, when is the best time to move for our kids' education? Last year, this year, next year or the year after? 

I do wonder if we should look at a private school/college that does A-levels or the IB instead of throwing her into Highers...

I do not agree when you say "for her to jump into 1 year of Highers in S5 after GCSEs could be tough".  That sounds like the correct time.

The difficulty may be that the curriculum isn't going to be identical, so there may be an element of catch-up with some things they missed in S4.

JJG

Just so you know. You and your children must have been living in Scotland for three years or more to qualify for free tuition fees.

fewcloudy

JJG said:

Just so you know. You and your children must have been living in Scotland for three years or more to qualify for free tuition fees.

@JJG I'm sorry, this is quite incorrect.
You need to be resident on the "Relevant Date". For most students that would be August 1st in the year they are starting Uni.
You also need to have been resident in the UK for 3 years, perhaps this is what you are thinking of?
And can't just have come here for the free tuition fees.

*Edited to add
https://www.saas.gov.uk/files/288/saas-exceptions-to-the-general-residence-conditions.pdf

https://www.saas.gov.uk/guides/guide-to-undergraduate-funding

Arfa__

fewcloudy said:

I do not agree when you say "for her to jump into 1 year of Highers in S5 after GCSEs could be tough".  That sounds like the correct time.

Sorry I was mistaken there. I meant for my daughter to go into S6 after GCSEs. At first glance, S6 appeared to correlate to year 12, when my daughter would otherwise be taking her first year of A-levels and just turning 17 that October. This felt like too big a jump going from GCSEs to Advanced highers (though she is bright and academic).

But, conversely for her to go into S5 seemed like a step back age-wise and she'd be nearly a year older at 17, even if academically it suited her.

Does that make sense, or have I got mixed up again?!

davidmcn

Arfa__ said:

fewcloudy said:

I do not agree when you say "for her to jump into 1 year of Highers in S5 after GCSEs could be tough".  That sounds like the correct time.

Sorry I was mistaken there. I meant for my daughter to go into S6 after GCSEs. At first glance, S6 appeared to correlate to year 12, when my daughter would otherwise be taking her first year of A-levels and just turning 17 that October. This felt like too big a jump going from GCSEs to Advanced highers (though she is bright and academic).

But, conversely for her to go into S5 seemed like a step back age-wise and she'd be nearly a year older at 17, even if academically it suited her.

Does that make sense, or have I got mixed up again?!

Mixed up, I think.

Compulsory education in Scotland is seven years of primary school and then four years at secondary school (so GCSE-equivalents at the end of S4) - if heading for university you stay on for one or two years, so as a minimum sitting Highers at the end of S5.

Snowdrops_Bluebells

I would have a look at the offer statistics of each Scottish university to  “home” students (which includes EU students) - they break them down by course... I think they are available online through various FOI requests, if they don’t show up easily on a web search check out the student room, I found the links there a few years ago when needed. 

Be aware that in a drive to increase social mobility having a “good” postcode can mean that students who achieve good grades don’t get to benefit from “free” tuition/ have to compromise on course/location. They also are not able to participate in clearing at Scottish institutions.

My eldest finished S6 at 17 and started her Uni course straight after. She did struggle to fit in
owing to her age and not being able to
go to pubs/clubs. Although in her final year now that first term is a long distant memory!

Just a few points of caution if the basis for the move is purely for free tuition...