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

Agree with others that, assuming you are looking for a place in Year 7 now, you are going to need to contact the local authority where you think you might want to live to find out which schools have a place.

I live in Hertfordshire with an hour door to door commute to central London, and near excellent state secondaries, the best of which will not have a space in Y7 or even Y8 and Y9 because they are massively over subscribed and people tend to keep the place they’ve got. (Husband teaches at one of the best in the county and he says there are very few new joiners in the first few year groups). And if someone else moves into the area at the same time as you, the tie break as to who moves up the waiting list is likely to be who lives closest to the school.

I’d identify a couple of likely areas to live with good schools, then get on the phone to the relevant local authority to ask which schools have places. It might well be the under performing schools, and you might well have to wait for a place in a good school to become available.

Watch out for the dreaded grammar systems.

State schools in some areas still have grammar schools. To get in you child must score highly in the 11 plus test, sat in Year 6 (10 -11). The highest scores get grammar school places, all else go to the other state schools. Little chance of your kids getting into grammar schools.

Kent, Medway, London boroughs Sutton and Bexley are all grammar. There are others.

Surrey is the comprehensive system. East Surrey has decent trains to London Bridge and Victoria, and is cheaper than further West, which tends to go up to Waterloo. You can walk over London Bridge and be in the City in 5 mins, it's a nice walk.

Look at Whyteleafe/Warlingham/Sanderstead, it's Zone 6 (so still London for train ticket purposes). Warlingham School and nearby Riddlesdown are excellent schools. De Stafford in Caterham is smaller and less good, but OK.

Further out, Merstham has stupendous links to London Bridge (but some quite hairy bits) and is outside the Oyster zone for trains, so a pricier commute. St Bedes is a great school (ecumenical RC and C of E).

I second Upminster. Some very good schools, very quick and easy to get to the City, and lots of open spaces.

Oh and Leigh on sea is nice but actually tiny part that is nice, it basically merges into Southend on Sea. And it's pricey because of that. Not sure about the schools there.

Highams Park! Your budget will get you a decent house in catchment area for the secondary school which is rated good. There's a direct line to Liverpool Street and Epping Forest is right on your doorstep.

Your daughter has missed the start of Year 7 (which is the correct year for her age; it's really unusual for a state school to put a child in a different year group than their age based one). That means that you will be making a school application outside of normal school application times, so you are entirely dependent on which schools have places. (which is why a PP said that location is not so important).

Ashford in Kent. Great grammar schools, much cheaper than Tunbridge Wells BUT has the high speed train so only 30 minutes into London.

You might want to talk to the school/council about which year she should go into. As an August birthday they might suggest she go into y7 not year 8 with cohort in September because the US school system doesnt line up with ours.

An American friend of mine, who lives in the UK, used to work for a company called "School Choice" which specialized in finding suitable schools for expat Americans - although I think they mostly dealt with the independent sector. She's retired, so I don't know if the firm is still extant, but you could try a swift Google. Maybe you could network with the expat. community, although if parents are not putting down permanent roots, they may opt for the likes of the American School in London (but this is fee-paying, usually funded by the company which brought them over).

Just be aware OP that very good state secondaries are often really over-subscribed, especially near london. It may not be easy to pick up a place in the middle of year 7 - you might have to join a waiting list. Other posters will have more experience but certainly around here (Surrey) you can wait until Year 8 or even Year 9 before a spare place comes up in a really good state school.

Recommend Upminster. 22 mins into Fenchurch Street and on the District Line as well. Good secondary schools. Nice commuter town with shops, restaurants, bars etc. Can be pricey but a nice place to live.

Watch out for your commuting cost too, it’s all well and good choosing out of London with a train line in, but it’s expensive to travel in.

The state secondary options in Epping, Loughton etc are very poor. There is Davenant if you are religious.
Bishops Stortford and Chelmsford are great options for commute and schools.

It sounds like you are already in the UK and looking for a school for your daughter right now? In which case you're correct, you're talking mid-year admission to Year 7.

I'd look at Bromley/Orpington, I have friends who live out that way with kids at St Olave's and love it (that's a boys school and won't do you much good, but there are quite a few good schools round there it seems.)

So if she starts in September, having turned 12 in August, she should go into Year 8 which is the second year of secondary school.

Fenchurch Street is close to Liverpool Street, London Bridge or Cannon Street so any line going into those would be ok.

Chelmsford, lots of good state schools including grammars. 35mins from Liverpool Street. Stay away from the Melbourne area and you'll be fine.

Hitchin? Train goes into kingsx and into the city. Hitchin Girls and Hitchin Boys school get excellent exam results. You would need to live near the schools to get a place.

Watford, Hertfordshire, London Underground Met line into City or 20 mins into Euston on train. Watford Boys and Watford Girls Grammer Schools, also several good co-ed secondary schools, Parmiters, Queens, and Rickmansworth School.

I don't know Leigh on sea but the other places on that route are very mixed with lots of deprivation. I think looking at places coming in to Liverpool St (10 mins from fenchurch st) would work better. O second Bishop's Stortford. Really good secondary schools. You could also look at the areas around Epping. Also Hertford and Ware. If you are looking at mid year admissions location may be less important but you'll need to watch catchment areas if you will be applying for secondary school places at year 7 (11 year olds)

Bromley area has good schools. You can get a train from Orpington into central London or Cannon St (in the City) in well under an hour. It is on the same line as Tunbridge wells (as mentioned by PP) but the fares are far lower due to the fact that Orpington is still within the London transport zones.

We need to know:
Your budget to rent or buy
Private or state schools
Where you need to get to

Otherwise there are a very large number or options. 😊

Bishop’s Stortford for access to London Liverpool Street. Excellent state schools, lots of countryside on the doorstep. Very close to Stansted Airport.

Do you mean London, or the City in London (ie financial district)? If the latter, I’d suggest you look eastward. Anything zone 4/5 on the Central line would work and is cheaper than Surrey. Wanstead, South Woodford etc are lovely and there’s a decent range of schools. Further out you have Buckhurst Hill, Loughton etc. Further in, there’s slightly edgier Leytonstone which is cheaper. All surrounded by Epping Forest and also close to Stansted for trips away.

London per se is a big place, so you need to specify which main line rail station is the closest to your offices. Ideally you want a direct train in and no tube changes.