Moving to Abingdon

[Erin1974]

I am a single mother moving to Abingdon from Hong Kong in late June. I'll be looking at properties in late March/April. Does anybody have recommendations of good places to live in Abingdon and Primary Schools? My daughter is 5 years old so she'll probably be joining Year 2.

[GoodGirlsGuide]

Hi Erin1974,

I used to live in Abingdon and still have relatives who do, (and incidentally, lived in Shek Kong in Hong Kong in the late 1980's!). I don't have children in school in Abingdon so can't really help you with recommendations, but during my recent degree as a mature student I did my dissertation project in 3 Abingdon Schools and thought they were all fabulous.

A really nice place to live is around the Waitrose supermarket - there are a number of lovely flats there, and it is a short walk to town. I know that rental properties are in short supply as a friend is looking to relocate there and is finding it difficult, but if you would like any further information about areas to live please feel free to DM me.

[Erin1974]

Thanks GoodGirlsGuide, that's very helpful. I'll be looking to buy a 3 bedroom property so I'm trying to get as many recommendations as I can. I do remember the area around Waitrose being very nice so I'll see what's available on the property websites. Thanks a lot!

[ColdCottage]

Do you want to be actually in Abingdon and many of the schools in the nearby villages have "Outstanding" ratings by OFSTED.

[Erin1974]

Thank you ColdCottage, that is also something to think about. Will look into that more.

[sausagepoo]

Dependent on the year you are looking at, there is a lot of pressure on primary school places in Abingdon - so it may be worth checking which schools have vacancies before moving to a certain spot as moving across town at rush hour can take a very long time!

[Erin1974]

Thanks sausagepoo, I have heard a lot about the traffic so I'll see what it's like when we start looking in March. I have contacted about 6 different primary schools in various areas and they say they have 1 or 2 places at this stage. We're moving there in late June so hopefully we'll be able to get a nice house and primary school place for September.

[zanuda]

Situation with school places is really bad all around Oxford. You might end up living next to good school and not being able to get a place there. Be prepared to that. So, you might end up to going to appeal just to get a place in good school...