I’ve lived here for 10 years and love it. Bit of an essay following- only because I’ve recently done this for someone I work with who was thinking or relocating so I’ve copied and pasted….
Nicest areas are Olde Hanwell, Golden Manor and around the library, and the Hanwell bit of Northfields.
Olde Hanwell: catchment for St Marks which is a lovely community school very well regarded by parents. Houses tends to be smaller cottages/ smaller terraces but area is nice. The Fox pub is lovely!
You’d be in the catchment for Elthorne Park secondary which recently made the top UK 250 secondary schools list. IT’s OFSTED 2 rated and gets 70+ A-C GCSE. Very middle class catchment for London though which partly explains the results. They are very pupil focused, and only set for maths- otherwise all mixed ability teaching which obviously works for them but isn’t for everyone.
You could also try the Hanwell bit of Northfields- you pay more for the slightly bigger Northfields housing and would be in catchment for Fielding Primary and Elthorne secondary. Fielding is a lovely school but very big- 4 form entry. Very MC intake again.
Golden Manor/ Hanwell: some lovely primary schools. Hobbayne is extremely well regarded, and is a lovely school- 3 form entry so big, but still has open space, and some lovely new facilities. Gets good results, rated good (was outstanding under the old rating system). Results this year in literacy had a bit of a blip (apparently a marking/ scoring issue not a teaching one!) but still well above UK average. St Marks is Catholic and also recently expanded, largely down to increased demand from some parents looking for catholic education. It’s results are also excellent.
In terms of secondary there’s Drayton Manor. It was recently featured as one of the best schools in the UK to buy a house near in a daily Telegraph article… It gets brilliant results (at 68% a shade less than Elthorne, but still well above the national average and the catchment is much more mixed). Ofsted 1 rated. Value added scores are very high. It’s seen as The School to send highly academic children: the headmaster (knighted for services to education!) follows the E.Bac, runs Latin lessons in the morning etc…. It’s very strict (detentions for very moderate bad behaviours and any uniform transgressions) but it does deliver a very studious atmosphere. It puts pupils in ability groups for almost everything before GCSEs so local gossip says the very academic ones are a bit “cosseted” (the school is occasionally a bit divisive locally!) It’s had massive investment, and has amazing facilities- bespoke drama studios, music classes with keyboards and computers for all children etc. The best description is from a friend who used to teach there who says “the bones of the grammar school it used to be are still there”.
I recently visited both schools as I had to make a choice as I’m one of the lucky ones who qualifies on distance for both school and it was a nightmare choosing (I realise this is a “my diamond shoes are too tight” dilemma!) Elthorne: more weathered, facilities not as nice, pupils in sweatshirts, choir singing pop songs with guitars, great results and lovely children…. Drayton: string quartet greeting us, 6th formers in suits showing us round, also great results, presentations on how many Russell group universities children get into, amazing facilities, but a sense that a less able or behaviourally challenged child might get a bit lost and not want to do Ebac subjects. Drayton also has the best 6th form in Ealing.
There’s also Twyford school- don’t know a lot about this as I’m not Godly(!), but results wise it’s outstanding at 76%. You need a lot of church attendance to stand a chance.
Brentside school is at the Greenford end of Hanwell- much improving school results above national average, recently rebuilt so amazing facilities, specialist Arts and Drama school.
Hanwell has lots of open space: in Olde Hanwell there is the Sandy park and in Northfields there is Lammas Park. Hanwell/ Golden manor has the Bunny park which is amazing and massive and has a small zoo! Honestly, we’ve got lots of options!
Transport: Hanwell/ Golden Manor has Hanwell station or Drayton station: trains directly into Paddington take 12 mins. We’re also getting Crossrail in a couple of years time, which will impact house prices enormously- 23 mins to central London! In Olde Hanwell you’d need a bus to Boston Manor tube potentially or a walk to Hanwell train station, and Northfields has tube station.
Hanwell is near Ealing Broadway, Kew, Richmond which is good as shopping isn’t great, although some nice cafes and all the main supermarkets.
Nice roads in the Hanwell area – anywhere in Golden Manor/ Manor court road and around Hanwell Train station. Any of the poets corner roads (Shakespeare, Milton etc) although they are a bit of a rat run. Framfield Road is about 100% full of families with children at Hobbayne and has lovely allotments and a lot of street parties. Holly Park road is a quiet cul de sac.
Hope this helps!