Page 2 | Maidstone OR Ashford for a family moving from Essex

MumDagKent · 2021-10-23T23:54:02+00:00

Hello Mums, We currently live in essex and we plan to move to Kent ASAP. I am not familiar with Kent and I wanted to ask if anyone could recommend which town is better for a family to settle into? Ashford or Maidstone. We are a family of 3, Father, Mother and Son (10 years Old). Unfortunately, he didn't pass the 11Plus exams. We have applied for him to attend faiths Schools in Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone. we have applied to other schools as well but these schools are our top choice. Our Pastor is able to verify that we are Christians and we attend church regularly. Thank you

Whohashiddenthebiscuits · 26/10/2021 16:55

That’s fine! St Simon Stock is Catholic hence why I’m sure @Cattitudes was suggesting a house move near the school before allocation as you wouldn’t be ranked priority as Anglicans and the school is over subscribed.

Original poster

MumDagKent · 26/10/2021 16:41

@Whohashiddenthebiscuits

Absolutely! I’m guessing just on the areas you are looking at *@MumDagKent* that some of the pricier areas of Kent might be out?

As a quick guide having just looked at Zoopla, other areas that are easily commutable to Maidstone, you’d be looking at the following:

Borough Green and Wrotham - £450K+ for a 3 bed. 13 minutes by train into Maidstone and 45 minutes into London Vic. We (I live here!) have a bus that goes to Bennett’s. Closer still is Trinity which is also a Faith school and is about 20 minutes on the bus.

West Malling - circa £400K plus for a 3 bed in Kings Hill. 13 minutes into Maidstone by train, frequent buses too. 50 minutes into London Vic by train.West Malling town centre is very pretty with lots of restaurants, gastro pubs etc.

Larkfield & Snodland - 3 bed house circa £350K. Buses into Maidstone. I don’t think either has a train station but I could be wrong! Both are very built up areas but have easy access to countryside. You could look at Aylesford too which is very pretty and again, easy to get to Maidstone.

Thank you so much for responding and breaking down house prices in each area.

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Original poster

MumDagKent · 26/10/2021 16:39

[quote Whohashiddenthebiscuits]@Cattitudes, good point. St Simon Stock is heavily oversubscribed and draws in Catholic children from a wide area. While you’d still stand a chance of getting a Faith place the OP’s DC would be behind the Catholic kids.[/quote]
Thank for responding, St Simon is our second choice.

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Whohashiddenthebiscuits · 26/10/2021 16:39

You mention applying for a Faith school in Maidstone so is this not St Simons Stock?

I don’t really know much about changing locations after the applications have gone in but I would have thought as Bennett’s, Trinity and St Simon Stock are very good schools and very oversubscribed that you’d stand a better chance locating yourself near one of them?

Original poster

MumDagKent · 26/10/2021 16:35

@Whohashiddenthebiscuits

West Malling or Borough Green *@Callmecordelia* would also be options in terms of getting into Maidstone I think? BG is only 13 minutes on the train & West Malling 5. Larkfield I’d look at too - it’s not lovely but it has cheaper properties and isn’t far into Maidstone by bus. If the OP needs to get into London though it wouldn’t be ideal.

Completely agree re Bennett’s. Maidstone or Ashford would be really impractical! Tonbridge property wise would be cheaper but still nowhere near as cheap as Ashford. The other option for TW if you were looking for cheaper housing is commuting in from East Sussex.

Thank you for responding, I will look into Borough green and East Sussex.

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Original poster

MumDagKent · 26/10/2021 16:33

@Cattitudes

Pastor I assume means not CofE/ Catholic? You will not be in the top categories for places so I would move much closer if only to rent for a year to be honest. See if you can find out the last distance offered in your category in recent years, remember it is a relatively high birth rate year too.

Thank you for responding, we are not catholics. Bennett is an Anglican school not catholic. when I spoke to the admission lady at Bennett, she did mention that a kids that has a higher church attendance is more likely to be selected compare to a child that lives closer.

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Original poster

MumDagKent · 26/10/2021 16:29

@Callmecordelia

You can change trains at Tonbridge if you're going from Ashford. If he gets into Bennett I'd look at living in Tonbridge or Tunbridge Wells. Previous posters are right, traffic in TW is awful.

I think you might need to rethink the locations you are looking at, depending on which school you get. Really think about how long you want your son to spend on public transport. The train lines in Kent join up in odd and impractical ways, and what should be easy trips looking at a map aren't possible in reality. Buses have to thread their way through traffic.

Tbh the only option that sounds workable in your OP is living in Maidstone with the school there.

Thank you for responding. We don't mind living in Tonbridge depending on the school he gets into

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Original poster

MumDagKent · 26/10/2021 16:28

@Whohashiddenthebiscuits

Just looked at the public transport options for you from Maidstone to Tunbridge Wells. They aren’t great! The bus is a no go. There is a 7am train from Maidstone West (and I’d figure in that they’d need to get to the station which may involve you driving them there) which gets into Tunbridge Wells at around 8. But that literally is the only option unless you drive them. Traffic into Tunbridge Wells in the morning commute time can be pretty hellish.

Thank you for responding. We plan to move before December 10th and then get to know the area well and then move closer to his school.

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Original poster

MumDagKent · 26/10/2021 16:22

@Whohashiddenthebiscuits

TW I assume is Bennett’s? Very good school but if you get in, both Maidstone and even more so Ashford are long journeys! I’m not even sure how you would get to TW from Ashford unless you planned to drive DC every day. I assume there is a bus from Maidstone to TW but I’d bet it’s a long journey.

Maidstone has less desirable areas but I’d definitely plump for it over Ashford. They are on the same train line so if you do go for Ashford and get the Maidstone school (St Simon Stock?) it’s 30 minutes on the train.

Have you looked at West Malling as a location? It’s about 5 minutes by train into Maidstone (and 50 minutes into London Vic). There is a large housing development on the edge of town (Kings Hill) which has lots of affordable housing. The town itself is very pretty and with more blue plaques than you could shake a stick at.!

If you are looking at Faith places, have you also considered Trinity in Sevenoaks?

Thank you for responding, we also applied to trinity school. Thank you for the recommendation about west mailing. we will look into that.

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Whohashiddenthebiscuits · 26/10/2021 10:58

Absolutely! I’m guessing just on the areas you are looking at @MumDagKent that some of the pricier areas of Kent might be out?

As a quick guide having just looked at Zoopla, other areas that are easily commutable to Maidstone, you’d be looking at the following:

Borough Green and Wrotham - £450K+ for a 3 bed. 13 minutes by train into Maidstone and 45 minutes into London Vic. We (I live here!) have a bus that goes to Bennett’s. Closer still is Trinity which is also a Faith school and is about 20 minutes on the bus.

West Malling - circa £400K plus for a 3 bed in Kings Hill. 13 minutes into Maidstone by train, frequent buses too. 50 minutes into London Vic by train.West Malling town centre is very pretty with lots of restaurants, gastro pubs etc.

Larkfield & Snodland - 3 bed house circa £350K. Buses into Maidstone. I don’t think either has a train station but I could be wrong! Both are very built up areas but have easy access to countryside. You could look at Aylesford too which is very pretty and again, easy to get to Maidstone.

Callmecordelia · 26/10/2021 08:03

Yes, I had overlooked Larkfield, Borough Green and West Malling. Those could work too.

We have no idea of the OPs budget, which would influence things a lot.

Whohashiddenthebiscuits · 26/10/2021 07:53

@Cattitudes, good point. St Simon Stock is heavily oversubscribed and draws in Catholic children from a wide area. While you’d still stand a chance of getting a Faith place the OP’s DC would be behind the Catholic kids.

Whohashiddenthebiscuits · 26/10/2021 07:49

West Malling or Borough Green @Callmecordelia would also be options in terms of getting into Maidstone I think? BG is only 13 minutes on the train & West Malling 5. Larkfield I’d look at too - it’s not lovely but it has cheaper properties and isn’t far into Maidstone by bus. If the OP needs to get into London though it wouldn’t be ideal.

Completely agree re Bennett’s. Maidstone or Ashford would be really impractical! Tonbridge property wise would be cheaper but still nowhere near as cheap as Ashford. The other option for TW if you were looking for cheaper housing is commuting in from East Sussex.

Cattitudes · 26/10/2021 07:48

Pastor I assume means not CofE/ Catholic? You will not be in the top categories for places so I would move much closer if only to rent for a year to be honest. See if you can find out the last distance offered in your category in recent years, remember it is a relatively high birth rate year too.

Callmecordelia · 26/10/2021 07:30

You can change trains at Tonbridge if you're going from Ashford. If he gets into Bennett I'd look at living in Tonbridge or Tunbridge Wells. Previous posters are right, traffic in TW is awful.

I think you might need to rethink the locations you are looking at, depending on which school you get. Really think about how long you want your son to spend on public transport. The train lines in Kent join up in odd and impractical ways, and what should be easy trips looking at a map aren't possible in reality. Buses have to thread their way through traffic.

Tbh the only option that sounds workable in your OP is living in Maidstone with the school there.

Whohashiddenthebiscuits · 26/10/2021 07:11

Just looked at the public transport options for you from Maidstone to Tunbridge Wells. They aren’t great! The bus is a no go. There is a 7am train from Maidstone West (and I’d figure in that they’d need to get to the station which may involve you driving them there) which gets into Tunbridge Wells at around 8. But that literally is the only option unless you drive them. Traffic into Tunbridge Wells in the morning commute time can be pretty hellish.

Maidstone OR Ashford for a family moving from Essex

Whohashiddenthebiscuits · 26/10/2021 07:02

TW I assume is Bennett’s? Very good school but if you get in, both Maidstone and even more so Ashford are long journeys! I’m not even sure how you would get to TW from Ashford unless you planned to drive DC every day. I assume there is a bus from Maidstone to TW but I’d bet it’s a long journey.

Maidstone has less desirable areas but I’d definitely plump for it over Ashford. They are on the same train line so if you do go for Ashford and get the Maidstone school (St Simon Stock?) it’s 30 minutes on the train.

Have you looked at West Malling as a location? It’s about 5 minutes by train into Maidstone (and 50 minutes into London Vic). There is a large housing development on the edge of town (Kings Hill) which has lots of affordable housing. The town itself is very pretty and with more blue plaques than you could shake a stick at.!

If you are looking at Faith places, have you also considered Trinity in Sevenoaks?