The plan, in the order it actually matters
Parenting sites cover the feelings well. This guide covers the logistics, because those are the parts with deadlines and hazards attached.
| What | When | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Check the catchment school has space | Before you commit to the property | Catchment priority is not the same as a guaranteed place |
| Gather proof of address | As soon as you have it | Council tax letters, tenancy agreements and utility bills are what admissions teams accept |
| Tell the current school | As soon as the move is certain | Records transfer between schools and it is not instant |
| Sort childcare for moving day | Two to three weeks before | The single most useful thing you can arrange |
| Pack the child’s room last | The night before | Familiar things disappearing early is what upsets younger children |
| Unpack the child’s room first | On arrival | One finished room in a house of boxes changes the whole first night |
School catchment: priority is not the same as a place
This is the single most consequential thing on this page, and it is where general advice and Edinburgh’s actual position come apart.
What we checked, and where the guidance disagrees
On 3 August 2026 we read the City of Edinburgh Council’s school places guidance against the general advice circulating about Scottish catchment areas. They do not say the same thing.
General guidance on Scottish catchments states that your catchment school is obliged to offer a place once you are resident at the address, and that a mid-year move is usually resolved within a week or two of the address being confirmed.
The City of Edinburgh Council’s own page is noticeably more cautious. It says that where schools have places they can reserve some for children moving into the catchment area, but that there is no guarantee of a place, and it advises checking whether a place is available before you move. It goes on to say that if your catchment school is full you should contact other nearby schools, and that refused requests go on a waiting list ordered by the date the request was received.
The practical conclusion is not that one source is wrong. It is that in a city with heavily oversubscribed schools, you should treat the catchment as a strong indicator rather than a promise, and you should ring the admissions team before you conclude missives rather than after.
Dates worth knowing
- Placing requests, meaning a school outside your catchment, run to a deadline of 15 March for entry the following August. They are discretionary and granted only where there is capacity.
- The council’s change of address form for school registration opens in November and closes on 31 July the following year. You can apply in advance of your move provided you are moving before the school year starts in August.
- For P1 and S1 intake, evidence of your new address is expected by late December to secure a catchment place for the following session.
- Mid-session moves are handled directly with the school and the council rather than through the annual intake process.
Have your proof of address ready. Admissions teams typically accept a current council tax letter, a tenancy agreement, a recent utility bill or a government benefit letter, along with the child’s birth certificate. Councils commonly will not accept a solicitor’s letter, which catches Scottish buyers out because a solicitor’s letter is often the first documentation you have.
Telling the current school, and what transfers
Worth doing before you leave:
- Ask for the leaving date to be recorded and confirm where records are being sent.
- Flag any additional support needs early. Support plans do not automatically arrive with the child, and a new school cannot prepare for something it does not know about.
- Collect anything the school holds, including instruments, kit and library books.
- Ask about a visit. Most Edinburgh schools will let a new pupil look round before starting, and half an hour in the building removes most of the first-day anxiety.
- Get contact details for a friend or two. Keeping one friendship going through a move does more than any amount of reassurance.
Moving day: the stairwell is the hazard
If you take one thing from this guide, take this. Arrange childcare for the day. Grandparents, a friend, a nursery day, anything. It is worth more than every packing tip combined, and every removals crew will tell you the same.
Where that is not possible:
- Designate one room and keep it closed. Pick a room that is already emptied, put the children and one adult in it with snacks and a tablet, and leave the door shut. The crew will work around a closed door.
- Never the stairwell, never the landing. In a tenement, the close and the half-landing are the working area. A crew carrying a wardrobe cannot see their feet and cannot stop.
- Keep the front door supervised. Doors are propped open on moving day, which is the one day a toddler can walk out of a flat unnoticed.
- Tell the crew. If there are children in the property, say so when they arrive. It changes how a crew calls out to each other and how they move on the stair.
- Watch the pavement. Loading happens at the kerb, often on a busy street, and the van tailgate is at a child’s head height.
Access is the part of a move that a survey exists to plan, and it is worth mentioning children at that stage rather than on the day. Our house removals in Edinburgh surveys look at the stair and the parking specifically, and knowing there will be a toddler in the flat changes how the crew sequences the load.
What to pack last, and what to unpack first
The sequence that works:
- Leave the bedroom until the night before. Everything else can be boxed while the child’s room stays normal.
- Keep one bag out entirely. Pyjamas, toothbrush, a change of clothes, the comfort toy, a charger, and whatever they need for the morning. This bag travels with you, never in the van.
- Do not pack the comfort item at all. A missing toy on the first night in a strange house is a bad night for everyone. It goes in the car, in a bag, in your hand.
- Label the child’s boxes clearly and load them last so they come off the van first.
- Make the bed before you do anything else at the new address. It takes ten minutes and it turns a room full of boxes into a bedroom.
- Let them pack their own box. Older children in particular deal with a move better when they have some control over it, and a box they packed themselves is a box they will want to open.
Fragile items in a child’s room deserve the same treatment as the kitchen. If there are framed pictures, ceramics or anything glass, the method is the same as packing plates and glassware.
The first week in the new place
- Register with a GP practice. NHS Lothian covers Edinburgh and registration is by practice catchment, which is a different boundary from the school catchment.
- Register with a dentist, which is a separate process and often has a waiting list.
- Confirm the school start date in writing and find out about uniform, dinner arrangements and the route in.
- Walk the route to school before the first morning, at the time you will actually be doing it.
- Put the routine back immediately. Same bedtime, same morning order, even surrounded by boxes.
- Find one local thing quickly. A park, a swimming pool, a library. Somewhere that becomes theirs rather than the parents’.
When the standard advice does not apply
- “Let them help carry things.” Not on a communal stair while a crew is working. There is no safe version of this in a tenement.
- “Keep them in the garden.” Most Edinburgh flats do not have one, and a shared drying green is not supervised space.
- “Do it in the school holidays.” Sensible in principle, but July and August are the most expensive and most congested weeks in this city, and August adds the festivals. October and the February break are usually easier.
- “Move at the weekend so they settle before school.” In Scotland your date of entry is fixed in the missives and is usually a working day. You rarely get to choose.
Common questions about moving house with children
Do I have to tell the school before we move?
Yes, and as early as you can. Pupil records and any support arrangements transfer between schools through the councils rather than being handed to you, so the receiving school needs notice to prepare. Confirm the leaving date and ask where records are being sent.
Is my child guaranteed a place at the catchment school?
Catchment gives priority, not a guarantee. The City of Edinburgh Council advises checking whether a place is available before you move, and says that if the catchment school is full you should contact other nearby schools. Ring the admissions team before you commit to a property rather than after.
What is the deadline for a school placing request in Scotland?
15 March for entry the following August. Placing requests are for schools outside your catchment, they are discretionary, and they are granted only where there is capacity. Requests made during the current school session are handled separately and directly with the council.
What proof of address do schools accept?
Typically a current council tax letter, a tenancy agreement, a recent utility bill or a government benefit letter, along with the child’s birth certificate. Councils commonly do not accept a solicitor’s letter, which is worth knowing in Scotland because that is often the first document a buyer receives.
Should children be present on moving day?
Ideally not. A stairwell with a crew carrying furniture is a genuinely hazardous place for a small child. If they must be there, keep them in one closed room with an adult, well away from the stair, the landing and the pavement by the van.
What should I unpack first when moving with children?
The child’s bedroom, and make the bed before anything else. Children settle around predictability rather than tidiness, so one finished room and the usual bedtime does more on the first night than clearing the kitchen.
Before you commit to the property
Ring the admissions team and ask whether the catchment school has space in the relevant year group. Do it before missives conclude, not after. Everything else on this list can be arranged around a moving date, but a school place cannot be arranged around a house you have already bought.
More practical guides to moving in and around this city are collected in our Edinburgh moving guides.
School admissions information was checked against City of Edinburgh Council school places guidance and published guidance on Scottish catchment areas on 3 August 2026. Admissions policy, deadlines and available capacity change year to year; confirm current arrangements with the council’s admissions team before making decisions about a property.
