Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Nuttall became a member of Edinburgh A.C and was coached by 1976 Olympian Moira Maguire until 2010. She won the Scottish Schools Championship in 2010 with a clearance of 1.78 metres. A year later she jumped 1.82m when winning the British U20 Championship (incorporating the European trials), to earn selection for the 2011 European Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, where she finished 15th overall in qualifying with 1.77m.