Southborough CoE Primary - Tunbridge wells

[Jas8085]

My brother is moving to Tunbridge wells shortly. They really liked a house and looks this is the only school option they will have for my nephew (starting next year) .

Is this a good school? (They are not religious)

[SitsWithAGoodBook]

I don't know Southborough school well enough to comment (all I know is that it's very big!), but I am interested in why your brother feels that Southborough is the only option. Is that because of lack of transport, or does he assume that his son won't get in anywhere else? There are loads of great small village schools nearby (my kids go to one of them), and although it's easy to assume they are likely to be full, this by no means definitely the case. Intake for these sorts of schools always depends hugely on numbers of siblings and local families - this year, for example, Reception was really undersubscribed in the local area because of a low birth rate. If he's able to travel to other schools, then I would suggest he goes to some open days and contacts schools direct - they should have an idea of their likely intake for the coming year. If he's living in Tunbridge Wells, then schools like Penshurst, Fordcombe, Speldhurst, Chiddingstone are definitely worth a look.

[Jas8085]

Hi SitsWithAGoodBook,
Thank you for your response. Southborough looks like the only option at the moment - solely based on rightmove schools tab.

Please can you suggest some nice schools that he could apply for? How easy/hard will it be to get there from Oak end close? (SIL drives)

[mjt58]

Hi Jas8085. Southborough is a good school and gets good results (better than the typically more favoured St Johns). My wife and I know people who've sent their kids there and are very happy with it.

At Oak End Close, they could also consider:

• Bidborough: they'd have got in 3 out of the last 4 years (it looks pretty good results-wise, but I don't know anyone who goes there) and it's not too far -- a 10 min drive away.
  

• Fordcombe: they'd have got in 4 out of the last 4 years (it's been undersubscribed every year) but it's a 20 min drive away. No idea what it's like to attend, but it gets very good results.
  

• St Matthews: they'd have got in 4 out of the last 4 years and I believe it's on the up.
  

It doesn't look to me as if they'd stand much chance with Chiddingstone or Speldhurst, but would have got in at Penshurst for the latest year which as SitsWithAGoodBook said was undersubscribed.

Hope that helps -- I live locally and also run a schools website admissionsday.co.uk which is where I've got all the data from