How long is your DC's school commute?

~30 minutes on foot or ~10 by bike.

Primary 30 minute drive, then five minute walk. Secondary five minute walk then first one college - 45 minutes bus, other sixth form 45 minute tube/walk. Ma
Many of DD's classmates had 45 minute tube commute for all of secondary.

7-8 minute walk.
We moved here specifically to be in catchment.
The right decision because kids take full advantage of extra-curricular activities 8am music clubs, after school clubs and easily back to represent the school for evening events. Abd they are completely independent about it. They even have time to get home, have food, change and get back to school.
I had a 45 minute walk home (no public transport) and I could cycle more quickly but it was hard with musical instruments so I usually walked.

Based on experiences in my work place a lot of them are ostensibly working at home (I say ostensibly, because you're clearly not wfh if you're out for an extended period taking your DC to school).

Speaking for myself, we washed out all the schools that DC couldn't get to independently because we couldn't make it work with our jobs. So I assume the parents that do this have more accommodating employers or don't do a 9-5 type job.

About 35-40 mins into central London with kids coming from all over up to an hour. Anything over an hour is nearly always insane IMO unless say an easy commute with a seat.

HBS is great and all that (I don’t know St Michael’s) but I would carefully weigh extra time against quicker options that may be decent.I see on my local Facebook 11+ groups some crazy parents who are sending their kids by private coach really long distances for a grammar they perceive to be better than the local grammar - yes it is probably a bit better but really not enough to justify the huge amount of extra travelling in my view.

If you’re low income do look at bursaries.

Plenty of people on the thread have explained how they drive their child or accompany their child to school for whatever reason and the poster was asking about the logistics really, if the parent also works.

Is the child that commutes to school and not the parent....

I drive foster teen 1 hour each way to college. He has learning disabilities and that restricts the number of settings suitable for him. He likes his college and feels comfortable there. He is doing well and they provide him with a 1-1 support assistant. It does take 4 hours out of my day and sometimes if we get in bad traffic 5 hours. As his foster carer I see this as part of my job though caring for him and making sure he gets the best opportunities he can have. He works hard at college and never complains about his homework so he deserves his chance. After a while it just becomes routine. We get up and leave early to try to avoid rush hour on the way in.

As i said upthread we have a big commute. When I worked in the same town as the school I'd drop them off at 08.10 (school starts at 08.20) and DH who was working from home but then retired would pick them up. I now WFH so I do the morning and DH does the afternoon. My core hours are 10-4 pm and I do much longer than that (frequently into the evening as I manage our US office and they dont come online until the afternoon)

When I drive him, 30 minutes. When he gets the bus (most days), about an hour and 10 minutes which is two bus rides and a short walk.

Yes almost all children in London will be travelling without parents on public transport or walking (though often in groups of friends), even those with longer commutes. DD travelled independently from Year 6 although primary school was only a 5 min walk.

Secondary school age travel independently.

I've always worked - in primary I dropped DD off at breakfast club and then went on to work, and picked her up at 6pm from after-school club.

Secondary I went with her the first day and she's done it independently ever since.

Parents that have 30-40 minute commutes? Do you work? How is that managed?

Whereas I spent an hour commuting to the supposedly "better" school and hated it - I was permanently exhausted; it limited my free time; I couldn't do after school activities as I had to leave straight away to get the school bus; and I never saw friends out of school as they lived so far away.

The fact of having a longer commute, should be factored into whether a school is "better" or not - not the schools just compared to each other.

If only.

DD has extremely high CAT scores, and severe SEN, and part of that SEN is extreme focus and interest in a very narrow area.

I looked at 27 secondary schools and she would have been utterly miserable in at least half of them.

Needed the right mix of academics, flexibility and a school that were happy to work with her to support what she is exceptional at, and somewhat ignore what she is never going to pass because she has no interest in doing so. We were lucky and found a school that ticked all the boxes, but I do not want to think of the mess if we had not.

I don't think it is quite that simple. A clever child may be able to achieve more or less anywhere but there's more to being fine than getting good exam results.
I was a clever child at a very poor comprehensive. I could not have achieved better results in my exams anywhere else but I am sure I would have been happier if I hadn't been relentlessly bullied. And I think I would have enjoyed having a wider choice of subject options, more extracurricular activities and so on. So yes, I was a high achiever, went to a good University and have had a successful and well paid career despite going to a terrible school so you could say I was fine there I suppose. But I was miserable for a large chunk of my formative years. Had I been offered the chance to travel to a school that might have suited me better I think I would have jumped at the opportunity.

Obviously it is a balance. I wouldn't advocate an hour's travel each way for a school with only marginal advantages over one 5 mins away, but if the local school is very poor or the distant one offers something significantly beneficial to an particular child which can't be accessed more locally then it may be worthwhile. It's got to be an individual decision based on the specific circumstances.
I "did fine" at my school, but I think I could have thrived elsewhere.

London zone 6. Currently a 15 minute drive to primary as we weren't keen on the local ones.

DS is starting secondary in September and his new school is a 20 minute walk. DD will almost certainly go to a school even closer - under 10 minute walk.

A clever child will be fine virtually anywhere.

You mean superselective private I guess not just any private. The OP is talking about academic child.

20-25 mins by bus or 35 min walk or 30 min tube (DD usually gets the bus). We're in London zone 2 travelling to a zone 1 school. Would have considered up to 45 mins tube journey, but being close enough to walk or cycle is really handy on tube strike days (the buses are awful during tube strikes). Lots of students travel from further away, but life is definitely easier for DD to not have to.

We didn't consider grammar schools really as most of them are in outer London, but we are fortunate to be able to pay for private. Would you be able to consider the central London independent schools (with a bursary if relevant)? Or a music place at a good state comp?

We are fairly rural and the Ds are at a private. Ds1 has a range of SEN and this was the best option for him. DS2 got a full bursary which we are waiting to hear if it may be cut due to VAT etc and mitigation measures.

It's a 40 minute drive each way best case in terms of traffic. I drive there and back in the am and DH drives there and back in the PM. The school bus has a waiting list and Ds1 gets horrifically travel sick so this is the best for us. I used to work in the same town as the school but now no longer.

We leave for school at 7.20 and I return a bit before 9.30 if i have stopped off at Aldi. DH leaves at 3.30 and is home a smidgeon before 5.

A longer commute is acceptable if direct than if multiple changes are required. 45 min on one tube line will be less tiring than a journey that takes 45 min journey on a good day but reliant on 3 different lines where late connections can stretch the journey time.

But make sure that there is at least one feasible alternative option for when the usual route is down.

DS1 - five min walk. But it is a grammar school so some are an hour commute or more
DS2 - 25 min walk.

I had an hour bus ride to my grammar school, so two hours on a bus every day, but I didn't mind at all, I quite liked it.

40 minute drive to softy-selective indie. Worth it
for the traditional values and complete lack of furries and genderwoo crap

When we moved abroad my children (then 13 and 11) went from a 2 minute walk with a 9 am start time to an hour's commute with a change of trams in a non English speaking city with an 8 am start... All was well until the morning the tram was not running and replaced with a bus service and they didn't understand the notice as it was in German! Eventually they asked someone and made to school albeit a bit late.