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Original poster

Best state secondary schools in Hampshire and can we afford to live in catchment?

287 replies

NellyJames · 06/08/2020 12:39

We are relocating to Hampshire. DH needs to get back into London just 3 times a fortnight so commute not really an issue.
Our eldest will be finishing GCSEs when next DC moves into Y6. Youngest will move into Y4. So we’d like to be in catchment for an excellent senior school for the younger 2 and where older one can do Alevels. I understand there’s far less pressure on 6th form places.

2 snags: we need 5 bed as it’s very likely that infirm MIL will move in within a couple of years max (she has no property so can’t contribute)
We have a max budget of 700k which I know will limit choice in very expensive SE.
DH has suffered a mini breakdown and whilst work have been phenomenal with regards working from home on a permanent basis (he’s quite senior) he’s very keen to be near the coast. Not to live on the coast but to be able to access it within an hour or so.
But schools will really determine where we end up.

OP posts:
itsgettingweird · 06/08/2020 14:53

Bay house school is Gosport has a 6th form. That's very near coast in an area (Alverstoke) that has huge houses within the range you're looking for.

Train direct from fareham to London but getting out of Gosport in the morning is a bugger so most people use the ferry to Portsmouth and travel to London from there.

TeenPlusTwenties · 06/08/2020 14:48

There really aren't many (as in I can only think of 1 in S'oton and that is a girls school) schools in South Hants with their own 6th forms. (Unless you want to go private.)

The Hants system is 6th form colleges.

Original poster
NellyJames · 06/08/2020 14:29

@TeenPlusTwenties, thank you so much. Lots of good info. I’m ideally looking for a school with a 6th form as I’m hoping (maybe unreasonably) that older DS can drive younger DS to school for a couple of years at least until DD is there too.
@SabrinaThwaite, thanks. I’ll have a look at Petersfield. Do you know what the school is like there?
@Fallulah, thanks. The commute could be as seldom as once a week so DH doesn’t mind it being reasonably awkward or long. House and school more important.

OP posts:
TeenPlusTwenties · 06/08/2020 13:46

re 6th form colleges. My personal views:

Pros:

  • everyone has to make an active choice where they want to go next and what they want to do, no staying at school and taking inappropriate A level choices by default
  • there is a wide range of good options for all abilities
  • good 'stepping stone' to university for the more able kids, as more freedom than at a school
  • no time tabling conflicts, almost any combination can be done

Cons

  • no continuity of teaching
  • less continuity of friendships
  • possible longer commutes (which can also cost £££)
  • teachers at school don't teach A levels, the college teachers don't know your child, so hard to get good advice in borderline cases
  • pastoral care less good than at a school
  • for those less mature the increased freedom and being told they are emerging adults is too much too soon
SabrinaThwaite · 06/08/2020 13:42

Petersfield?

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-71593338.html

Fallulah · 06/08/2020 13:33

Alton?
Whitchurch?

You really want to be on the Portsmouth/Basingstoke line for commuting in to London.

Be aware that some areas of Hampshire have no secondaries with sixth forms - all students leave and go to college.

Lots of parents in Basingstoke send their kids to school at Perrins or Beaufort in Winchester, so there is a bus specifically for that.

TeenPlusTwenties · 06/08/2020 13:19

Here you go:
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-95647094.html
Says it is Thornden catchment. Can't go wrong.

TeenPlusTwenties · 06/08/2020 13:17

e.g. www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-94581446.html

Romsey is a bit of a pain for commuting to London. You need to drive to Winchester first then train (or train Romsey to Soton, then Soton to Waterloo)

TeenPlusTwenties · 06/08/2020 13:00

Can you afford:
Chandlers Ford (catchment for Thornden)
Romsey / North Baddesley or surrounding area (for Romsey or Mountbatten)
North of Winchester (for Perrins) (don't know how near to Basingstoke you could be for this but worth a look)

Peter Symonds 6th Form takes from a very wide area, but Barton Peveril in Southampton also very good.

Original poster
NellyJames · 06/08/2020 12:51

Thanks @QuintusEstInHorto. Winchester looks lovely but we can’t afford what we need in the catchment for good schools.
@Cakecrumbsinmybra, I’ll take a look, thanks.

OP posts:
Cakecrumbsinmybra · 06/08/2020 12:45

Not Hampshire but close - Highcliffe? Great beach, good secondary up to sixth form, cheaper than neighbouring coastal areas and on the Weymouth-London line.

QuintusEstInHorto · 06/08/2020 12:41

Winchester might be an option for good schools and accessibility to London and the coast?

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