Moving to Scotland

BlackEdelweiss

We are hoping to move to Scotland from New Zealand next year. My sister lives in England so I can get plenty of advice from her but I am wondering if Scotland has different rules than England for healthcare, schooling etc. Does anyone have any experience of both systems?My son and I are both Type 1 diabetics so I want to find out more about that, again I have info regarding the English system but I dont know if the Scottish system is different.

razorblunt

NHS wise, no it's the same, you have to go to a GP that's close by to you.

School wise, you'll have to be in the catchment area to attend a school (at least in Edinburgh), which has direct effect on house prices obviously.

jimmii

There's a good bit of money being invested into new NHS centres in East Lothian too so good timing if you're looking in that neck of the woods.

bkehoe

Scotland has an independent NHS from that in England that has undergone far fewer reforms than the NHS in England which has gone down the path of privatisation. Thus a lot of Scots regard the quality of care as being superior. Scotland also benefits from things like free prescriptions, free hospital car parking at most hospitals, etc. In general though your interaction with the various elements of the NHS in any of the 4 countries of the UK will be identical; e.g. you must register with a GP, get a NHS card as a result, etc.

Several articles on the internet about it such as https://www.opendemocracy.net/ournhs/dave-watson/scots-nhs-satisfaction-soars-as-englands-falls

Schooling system is different here too, but couldn't comment on it. Post code will define what public schools you're entitled to apply to and private schooling is of course available.

Worth pointing out that while the effective income tax rates are identical on both sides of the border, soon (next tax year) Scottish residents will be more heavily taxed than UK tax payers if you're a higher rate (40%) tax payer as Scotland will not be raising the threshold for the higher rate of tax whereas England/Wales/NI will be.

razorblunt

Tax.
Yes, thank you SNP.

A Dub in Glasgo

razorblunt wrote: »

Tax.
Yes, thank you SNP.

May not get it though as they will be a minority Government

It is also described as not implementing a tax cut for the well off (includes me)

razorblunt

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

May not get it though as they will be a minority Government

It is also described as not implementing a tax cut for the well off (includes me)

That's good to know.

Unz88

As far as I'm aware, NHS Scotland isn't seeing the same extent of underfunding that the English NHS is. Agree creeping privatisation is much slower in Scotland than in England. Also, you don't have to pay for prescriptions in NHS Scotland which is a handy bonus