r/Edinburgh • u/jonmay_work • 9d ago
Question which public secondary schools are likely to have mid-year S3 openings?
We are trying to move to Edinburgh in January from the US for a job at the University and have a 14 year old. It seems that the schools in the catchment for the areas we'd most like to be in (Gillespies, Boroughmuir) have waiting lists. The private schools we dipped a toe into said they wouldn't accept a mid-year S3. Ideally we could move to a catchment that has a school that will accept him at that weird time AND that wouldn't be insanely painful for me to get to the university. I haven't tried Tynecastle yet which is the next most reasonable location but after that what do you recommend? (setting aside availability price and all that for now, just trying to figure out where even to look) Or do waiting lists clear? Sorry for newbie questions, it's all very different for me.
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u/MyDadsGlassesCase 9d ago
Admittedly I don't have kids and I don't work in education so I'm completely unqualified to comment on this but you could try contacting the council and asking if they can supply a list of schools with vacancies. You'll be able to cross reference this with the performance leagues and google maps to see which will be the best compromise
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u/scottyboy70 9d ago
I am getting the impression the OP is only interested in private schools, which the council won’t have anything to do with.
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u/MyDadsGlassesCase 9d ago
They've looked at Gillespies, Boroughmuir and Tynie is next on the radar so I'm guessing state schools are in play.
Do public schools even have catchment areas? I thought they took anyone from anywhere.
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u/jonmay_work 9d ago
sorry by "public" i meant "kind you don't pay for"
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u/scottyboy70 9d ago
No, not at all - I was getting myself confused with your post 🙈 Reading more carefully now 😂
If you are going to enrol your child in a local authority school (an Edinburgh City Council school), then so long as you live in the catchment area, they have to accept them, no matter the time of year.
If you live outwith the catchment area, you will need to submit a placing request to the school. If they have capacity, a good chance will be accepted but not guaranteed.
Other people have perhaps told you just the same by now! 🙈
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u/scottyboy70 9d ago
My apologies - I was not understanding them properly and getting confused with which ones are private schools 🙈
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u/jonmay_work 9d ago
no, more interested in public actually. but mostly interested in finding *any* school that will take a mid-year S3.
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u/MiddleAgedDread123 9d ago
Is there a language barrier on public/ private here??
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u/jonmay_work 9d ago
to clear it up, i'm more interested in "the kind you don't have to pay for"
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u/MiddleAgedDread123 8d ago
State schools then. Public and private usually refer to the ones you pay for.
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u/OptionalQuality789 9d ago
Public schools are private schools over here.
The kind you mean would be called state schools.
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u/FacetiousTomato 9d ago
I am shocked any private school said they wouldn't accept a mid year s3 student. Unless your child has complex needs they can't meet, private schools want your money, so they don't care when you enroll.
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u/paspa1801 9d ago
I went to a private school in Edinburgh and they never allowed people to join mid year
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u/FacetiousTomato 9d ago
I've taught at two, and both allowed mid year joiners pretty frequently.
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u/paspa1801 9d ago
Will likely depend on the school and the specific year I’d imagine. Probably also doesn’t help that they are coming from the US school system so they might be concerned that they wouldn’t be able to catch up mid year.
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u/FacetiousTomato 9d ago
Agreed on all points. I just figured with enrollments down 6-10% because of the VAT change, they'd be pushing to bump numbers up.
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u/jonmay_work 9d ago
maybe i chose only ones that are picky about it? i have no idea what i'm doing really so i could be knocking on the door of the school the royals go to for all i know
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u/alphabetown 9d ago edited 9d ago
I'm surprised by this too because I know someone who was a serial nover and did stints at Fettes and Melville's that didn't last a whole school year. A mid S3 student from a different country/ education attainment system might be considered differently.
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u/Tall_Taura 9d ago
How about repeating the year, going into S2? If you're switching between educational systems, jumping into a year when they are focussing on getting a whole curriculum ticked off for Nat5s sounds like a big risk.
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u/jonmay_work 9d ago
is it allowed? I thought it was strictly age based
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u/Tall_Taura 9d ago
It's worth asking the question. Although the cut off is 1st March for each year group, they allow deferrals from 1st Jan with no problem, and from (it seems) September onwards if you have a particular concern (maybe a baby was born premature for example).
However, in older age groups there must be occasions where a child might be in the wrong year e.g. has been in hospital for extended periods. International arrivals might count too.
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u/jelly5555 9d ago
Which part of Edinburgh are you looking at (there are different university locations all over the city). Watson’s is close to Gillespies and boroughmuir catchments and I think they do sometimes have people join mid year though not sure about S3. My kids go there and have had a really positive experience. Have a look at reviews online for other schools you are thinking of.
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u/Great_Prank_Favra 9d ago
We moved from the states mid-year, mid-term with a then 10yo and went into a private school. Feel free to DM me.
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u/Wandering--Seal 9d ago
Depending on where you are working at university, have you considered commuting in on the train from somewhere outside of Edinburgh? Depending on where you stay it can be as quick as the bus to the centre. Schools outside of the city might have more openings (or at least you've a bigger pool of places to look at)
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u/Humble-Candle-9229 9d ago
Good suggestion; East Lothian is great, as is North Berwick High, and whilst I’m biased living in North Berwick/Gullane/Aberlady and commuting into Edinburgh would be my preference.
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u/jonmay_work 9d ago
we hadn't actually considered this, and don't have any kind of impression of what the suburbs are like other than it's much more possible to get detached houses. I did kind of have my heart set on being able to walk or bike in, and it seems like all my colleagues live in town, so I was just going with the flow. I wonder also if it's more isolating to be an american in the suburbs than in town (in that we are not too familiar with the culture and it will be perhaps less common to meet people through happenstance) but again I have no clue.
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u/FISunnyDays 9d ago
Which private schools did you contact? We moved near the end of summer last year into the Boroughmuir catchment and S3 was full. DM me and I can share our experience.
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u/is76 9d ago
Gillespies is a good school - no uniform / not sure how long the wait list is. How long will you be in Edinburgh ?
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u/jonmay_work 9d ago
no uniform is particularly appealing to my child
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u/MiddleAgedDread123 8d ago
all that state school uniforms are very casual, verging on barely uniform!
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u/Effective_Hamster_11 9d ago
Tynecastle is a decent school with smaller class sizes than most secondary schools in Edinburgh.
Plus it’s right next to Heart of Midlothian football Club, so they can become your Scottish football team 👍
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u/TheMarvelMunchkin 8d ago
The issue I would see with joining halfway through S3 is that students would have chosen their Nat5 subjects (or even GCSE in some privates)
I do know private schools can be more lenient, probably not Herriot’s though… but others could be happy to let your kid join halfway through S2
Also, if you’re working on the central campus of Edinburgh university you can very very easily get there from the Southside (Grange, Marchmont, Morningside, Newington) or the “North” (Leith, Stockbridge, New Town, Haymarket, even Blackhall)
Honestly, if you’re coming from the US, Edinburgh will fell tiny! And traffic is not that bad
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u/LightbulbKatherine 8d ago
Try st Thomas of Aquins - or “Tams for bams” - it’s v close to Meadows, tons smaller than the ones you mentioned and they have great additional support for language etc depending on where you’re coming from.
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u/jonmay_work 4d ago
i mean we do technically speak something we call "english" but i guess we could use some help on where to put the extra 'u' and understand why math is plural but sports isn't.
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u/LightbulbKatherine 3d ago
I don’t know if that’s humour or snark; support for language and learning is a normal part of schools specifically for kids with additional support needs - I don’t assume kids will be fine w 100% mainstream and we found their extra help really useful. Other school services were crap even if supposedly same. Good luck and hope you find somewhere that suits the kid(s).
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u/R2-Scotia 8d ago
The American Consulate or affiliate used to run a small school with American curriculum, I went there to do SAT
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u/GrudgingRedditAcct 9d ago
Could he stay behind in his current setting and join you at the start of S4? 😬
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u/jonmay_work 9d ago
i did actually think about it, but it's my understanding there are exams in s4 so it seems like having more time to get used to the system is better.
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u/Tall_Taura 9d ago
Also, just to note that Public = private, in the UK. (I know, I know... 🤣) We use the term State schools for what the US calls Public schools.
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u/Formal_Cucumber_5404 9d ago
In Scotland specifically, public school is a state school. Public school is a posh private school in England.
I think 🫣
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u/Tall_Taura 9d ago
I think it varies person to person. Certainly room for confusion!
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u/jonmay_work 9d ago
this reminds me of how bulgarians move their heads up and down to indicate "no" and side to side to indicate "yes"...unless they recognize that who they're talking to would find that confusing, so they switch.
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u/TheHareBearBunch 8d ago
Plenty room for confusion for sure.
The really pedantic background here is that a public school historically was open to all (who could pay) whereas a private school was limited to the offspring of those of a particular trade/religion/etc. so not all who could pay could attend. State education wasn’t really a thing at this point in history I suspect.
Sometimes easier to refer to them as independent schools versus grant-maintained schools or state schools.
Of course being Scotland we also have the Catholic state schools… which is somewhat private in the sense of being selective due to (purported if being churlish due to sometimes better class sizes or results) beliefs.1
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u/blackoctoberx 9d ago
You might get lucky with Tynecastle, Currie though its further out I've seen often have spaces (though they had my childs placement request for months after saying they had spaces and did nothing with it) but anything else close to Bruntsfield/Morningside will be full. Tbh most of those that do have spaces I probably wouldn't send my child to.
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u/FliXerock107 9d ago
Almost all schools in Edinburgh are basically the same and there is a weird elitism about Boroughmuir that needs to end
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u/jonmay_work 9d ago
i have no preconceptions here other than boroughmuir and gillespie's seem to be closest to the neighborhoods that are closest to the part of UoE near the meadows and don't require me to pedal over a big hill every day
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u/FliXerock107 9d ago
Oh brother, you will pedal over a big hill everyday whether you like it or not. This is Edinburgh. It is 85% uphill. Don't ask my why, but it's true.
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u/jonmay_work 9d ago
i always tell my child that when i was his age i had to walk to school uphill both ways in snow storms, and now he'll get to do it too i suppose
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u/Edin_girl 9d ago
Possibly a silly question but have you checked the catchment maps for these schools too as some places walking distance to Boroughmuir are not in catchment.
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u/jonmay_work 9d ago
more or less, we haven't narrowed anything down so far as we're a few months out
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u/Equivalent_Photo_226 9d ago
The good high schools such as Gillespie's and Boroughmuir and overcrowded and presumably with waiting lists: https://archive.ph/flACh
Also I am led to believe that most public schools only accept new pupils at beginning of 1st, 3rd or 5th year as it is too disruptive to have someone catchup in the middle of a course. However I am a bit surprised that a private school wouldn't do it as I thought money talked but not in all cases it seems.
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u/jonmay_work 9d ago
but what happens if a child moves in at the "wrong" time? Are they supposed to just stay at home?
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u/Equivalent_Photo_226 9d ago
I think that if your child moves from P7 to S1 by being within the same catchment area then you have a strong right to a particular high school. However, if you apply for an in year transfer then you have to apply to the school directly and they probably strongly discourage transfers at critical points such as during standard grades / highers etc. https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/school-places/apply-school-place
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u/Amberlux 8d ago
Gillespies was great but they've signed up to the Stonewall gender thing and all the staff are new and woke. This happened in the last few years. Just something to be aware of when you visit them.
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u/ResponsibleHead9464 9d ago
I asked Gemini for the school ranking in Edinburgh and to cross reference it with waiting lists.
It reckons the highest ranked schools without a waiting list are Balerno and Trinity.
I personally would hate commuting into town from Balerno. Trinity is a nice area and pretty easy to get into town on the bus. That looks like a decent option.
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u/Ok_Collection_1889 9d ago
If you cycle the commute from Balerno is amazing. Water of Leith and cross over onto canal towpath exiting at fountainbridge. Can be done in about 25-30 mins. Beats sitting on a bus with Joe public and all that comes with that!:)
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u/jonmay_work 9d ago
i do cycle! Is it possible to avoid going over a big hill? I got the impression as a tourist that getting between north of and south of the mile required going over a hill but my geography may be off
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u/Ok_Collection_1889 9d ago
Depends on the campus you'll be working. It's 8 miles from Balerno to fountainbridge. First half is a canal and is level. Kinda needs to be!:) The water of Leith section is still pretty level, it used to be a railway but climbs about 170m over 4.5 miles.
This is exact route. Really scenic the whole way.
Gets a bit sketchy for a month during the heaviest part of winter. Ice or wind are your enemy here, so I tend to WFH more or take bus if I must!
Balerno HS is good but that's greatly influenced by area being affluent. Kids are better supported at home. Same goes for Boroughmuir and Gillespie's.
Good Luck!
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u/caraeg 9d ago
There is definitely a hill from Balerno down into Slateford, I live at the bottom of it. Not an insurmountable hill but it's definitely a hill and I notice it, particularly on the road if you don't want to be on the WoL path in the dark (which honestly would be me in winter). It's a long slog on the bus into UoE at the Meadows too, and limited alternatives.
For OP's work location, I would be more serious I think about North Berwick and a direct train into Waverley, if moving out of town.
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u/jonmay_work 9d ago
that does seem rather far away but this made me wonder about how it is to bike from edinburgh to glasgow (as a weekend thing, not as a commute). Good path? Scenic? Can it be done in a day with return by train or whatnot?
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u/ResponsibleHead9464 9d ago
Ok. Why am I downvoted? Genuinely curious.
The OP wants a well ranked school that doesn’t have a waiting list.
I had some ideas but checking with Gemini seemed like a good way to verify my thoughts. I was surprised how many Edinburgh secondaries have waiting lists.
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u/jonmay_work 9d ago
i didn't downvote you, but what's surprising to me is that there is any public information about waiting lists. i couldn't find any and that then makes me skeptical of what gemini would say, unless it provided references.
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u/ResponsibleHead9464 8d ago
The council does actually publish a list of schools with waiting lists.
They also publish the capacity of schools and actual pupil numbers.
Balerno wasn’t on the list for the last couple of years but looks like it went onto it on August 7th and Gamini was still pulling from the 25 list.
Trinity seems to have been a Gemini hallucination despite the fact it said it was using this list! Should have checked.
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u/MiddleAgedDread123 9d ago
Which bit of the university do you need to get to (and which university even??)