Looking for area with good secondary schools with easy commute to London city

Raynes Park as others have said is perhaps not the most immediately appealing place and there are far nicer places to live in that south west London area, such as Kingston, Surbiton, Hampton, Teddington, Richmond, Ham, but it does have some advantages as it is close to Wimbledon and its facilities but cheaper; and you can connect to the tube network at Wimbledon, for a useful alternative to mainline trains. It is also closer to London and in travel Zone 4, compared with Surbiton and Kingston in Zone 6 so it's cheaper for travel, as well as those few miles closer.

Surbiton is well connected and better for fast trains into Waterloo than Kingston - or New Malden which someone mentioned - and it is good for late night trains, taxis at the station, buses, even bikes, whereas I would not want to hang around New Malden station, or Hampton Court, Esher and other quieter ones on the slow train lines. It is also well placed for Heathrow by cab, taxi, express bus or driving but without the aircraft noise you get in Richmond, and it's not bad for Gatwick either. Nearest tube connection is Wimbledon, 7 mins non-stop on the fast train. Or Richmond by road.

If you want to go well out beyond Greater London, Guildford, the Surrey county town, could be a good choice, offering other opportunities and amenities in the countryside as well as good town facilities, shopping etc. Then again, the train journey is a bit longer but tolerable if you get the fast non-stop to Waterloo which could be close enough to 30 minutes. Plenty of people do that and work in the City. The slow stopping train is to be avoided, at least by me. I don't know about you...you may not mind it. And will you be commuting five days a week or just a couple? That could affect your decision too.

Guildford in Surrey might be perfect for you. Some of the best state schools in the country, 30 mins to Waterloo and surrounded by an AONB, great for bringing up an active family and living an outdoorsy life, and the surrounding villages are chocolate box gorgeous. Good luck!

St Albans - AL1 specifically to be close to the station. Can get into St Pancras in under 20 minutes
Amazing schools and perfect for family life.
Your budget will get you a lovely family home in a great location.

Sorry, just realised you are looking for secondaries only. I would recommend Bullers Wood Girls School in Bromley/Chislehurst or Langley Park Girls in West Wickham, or Darrick Wood (mixed) in Orpington if you head this way.

I would also recommend Bromley/Chislehurst/petts wood/Orpington if you are aiming for the city. There are two lines into London from the first and last . One to London Bridge, Cannon Street (for the City) and Charing Cross (for Leicester Square,Covent Garden etc) which Chislehurst and Petts Wood also serve, and the other to Victoria for Buckingham Palace etc. The primary schools are excellent and good comprehensive secondaries too, single sex and mixed. I don’t know about mid year admissions but I am sure they are easy or difficult as anywhere else round London.

This is very true. We're in Sanderstead and my youngest has been waiting for over a year for a space at our local (excellent) primary. We have sibling priority but no one leaves!

Leigh is a wonderful place to live, moved here in 2017 and haven’t looked back. It very much isn’t run down not sure what previous poster considers run down but it’s a beautiful town and has been up and coming for years / has pretty much ‘up and come’. It’s great for family’s and yes although much of Southend is a ‘vote leave’ place, leigh on sea itself actually isn’t.

Leigh-on-Sea!

leigh on sea is in catchment for 4 grammar schools. However I dont think the state schools are too great other than those if you dont get into grammar which of course us selective. A good option would be Rayleigh or Eastwood good primaries particularly Rayleigh and good state senior schools but its Ss6 postcode so still in catchment for grammars in Southend State comps can recommend the Eastwood school and Sweyne Park best primary in Rayleigh is probably Grove Wood but they are all qood

Are you Catholic or anything? If your children are baptised catholics that will nudge you up the waiting list on faith schools. Waiting lists are in order of over subscription criteria, rather than when you joined the list, so the closer you live, the better if not applying for a faith school. Can you homeschool while you wait for a place to come up? That would also give you the luxury of waiting for a place at a school you like. Most of the good and outstanding schools are over subscribed and have waiting lists in pretty much every town, so finding out what their order of priority is will help you get in.

Do you have girls or boys? One child, more?

I think your budget would be ok in Epsom. Something like this is very close to Rosebery, an excellent all girls state school:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/121676267#/?channel=RES_LET

Or this would most likely work for Blenheim (mixed) or Glyn (boys) - obviously if they have spaces, depending on waiting list etc.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/121872677#/schools?channel=RES_LET

Trains to Waterloo or London Bridge in 35-45 mins.

I think the thing to note about the Richmond area is that you will get quite a lot of aircraft noise as it’s on the flight path to Heathrow.

@Bshweta others may disagree and I'll probably get called a snob, but aside from a few very nice roads in Leigh on Sea it's a bit run down in my opinion. Also, depending on your politics, most of that area of Essex voted to Leave the EU, so it wouldn't be my choice yp raise my children there, but of course you may be a Republican and be happy with that for all I know! Personal choice.

I wouldn't recommend Leigh on Sea or Southend as your first experience in the UK to be honest, or Highams Park. I'd look at Hertfordshire, Richmond area including Ham, Kingston, Twickenham, St Margarets etc, and then Tunbridge Wells. Budget will probably be your compromise.

Leigh-on-Sea is really part of Southend. It has four selective grammar schools, with good reputations Southend has two separate train lines. One goes into Liverpool St, and the other into Fenchurch St. You could probably walk on to most City jobs saving you the cost of the tube element of a season ticket. Coming from the east, either line would also be useful for jobs in the docklands area. On either line the journey is about an hour.

Wherever you chose to live you should speak to the Local Authority Admissions team of that area to determine if there are spaces in her year. Many schools are oversubscribed so she might not immediately get a place at the school you want, she may have to go on the waiting list.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/121678124#/?channel=RES_LET

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/117403667#/?channel=RES_LET
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/120819005#/?channel=RES_LET

Raynes park has no character. I'd chose Kingston (Tiffin Boys and Girls- Grammar Schools so selective), Ham (Grey court is an outstanding state secondary) or Richmond (although your budget probably won't be enough for Richmond). It's so pretty around all three of those areas as you have the river going through and Richmond park for greenery. It's beautiful!

I know the Raynes Park/ Kingston area very well. Rental will be tight within the budget but there are a lot of secondary schools in that patch, some better than others. It’s a nice area, some of it very nice. Sorry not much help but certainly worth considering. New Malden has plenty of trains running through and sits between the two areas. Coombe Girls is well regarded.

Not really, in that Raynes Park is a bit ‘meh’. I guess you’re close to Wimbledon and the green spaces, and it’s on the direct line into Waterloo (you then get the drain aka Waterloo/City line direct to Bank for work). I think if you’re looking at that area, then I’d also consider Kingston to be near the river, Hampton Court, Bushy Park etc.

Surrey to Waterloo then walk or tube to the city of London look at surbiotn esher Guildford train line

Used to be a website that you put your preferred station into and max commute time so say you worked at Bank and it would take 20 mins from Waterloo then you could see places that you'd be 30 mins on a train with 10 mins between home and station giving you the hour. Must still be around or one similar.