Where would you move to for excellent (and free) girls secondary education...

[Tigertoes]

We need to relocate and DHs job is quite flexible.. we have 3 DDs (and I'd like another one!) and although they are infant school age now, I am thinking ahead to secondary education.. Where we are now, I think we would end up looking at private and I cannot see us affording this for 3.. Where would you relocate if it was purely for schools - if you had no other ties? Ideally quite nice to live as well! We do have family in east and west midlands, so any suggestions near central england would be great. Its got to be England though for DH to be able to work.

In your circumstances I'd consider Cambridge (but ask on the local board about catchment areas for different types of school)

• very nice city to live in (I know Valhalla hates it, but most other MNers seem to like it from various threads)
• don't live there now, but having talked to friends with children who still live there & in the surrounding villages they are very happy with the choice of schools
• easy access to E/W mids
• lots of cultural stuff for grownups
• all comps, so no issue with 11

only downside is if you are keen mountain climbers

Sorry, that was to OP, not Haunted (though Cambs is near Lincs!)

You could try Horsham, comp

try again girls comp

I'm still listening takver...cambs is def on my list of possible.

I guess I am looking for a region which has a higher than average proportion of well regarded schools so that I can move to an area not a specific watchmen IYSWIM. Lincs and Rutland sound perfect, but with some caveats to grammar system.

I would move to exactly where I am! Malvern, Worcestershire. No grammars and no single sex(but I don't agree with them anyway) but a wide choice of excellent schools - primary and secondary. Beautiful area, close to Brum etc, loads going on for kids. House prices reasonable (we bought a 4 bed doer-upper 2 years ago - got it reduced from 189 to 120 - there are deals to be had).

Hampshire
fab comps
no grammars
easy commute to anywhere

well if you are happy with mixed I would agree with Cambridge - I just moved here and it was a great weight off my mind not have worry about school as they all seem pretty good - especailly in the village - bit pricey though - although villages much better value than centre

Well here I am back! Grateful to see so many interesting suggestions. Am not especially fussed about single sex or co-ed/ good state or grammar.
Must admit my fusty old-fashioned prejudice is that single-sex secondary education is likely to offer fewer hormonal distractions and better educational outcomes - esp for girls -but I have not myself reviewed a single piece of evidence to support this! On the flip side, I have anxieties about bullying cultures in all-girls schools, based on my own school experience. So I think its about individual schools as much as anything else..
DH just told me he has been offered fab job in Nottingham - may well not take this option but it is near family - could commute from Lincs/Rutland?

well I love nottingham grew up there - and think school are fine on the outside edges of nottingham - eg beeston, woolaton, west bridgeford etc

I work in Nottingham and live in Lincs. 2 1/2 to 3 hours a day in the car. Admittedly I live in the middle of Lincs rather than the edge closest to Nottingham. Depends on how much you have to spend- some ok schools in Nottingham but generally in expensive area. There are a couple of v well regarded girls grammars where I live.

11+ schools in South Lincolnshire are not excessively competitive, they take the top 25% in my town and half of my current yr 6 pupils are going to the local grammar. This does mean that the non-grammar schools do have a less able intake but still do pretty well in the main ( although there are exceptions!) -and it's cheap

( from single mum who moved to Lincolnshire for cheap housing and good schools!)

What if the child doesn't pass the 11+? Find a good area with good comprehensives. In grammar school areas, more often than not, the grammar schools aren't all they're cracked up to be, and the alternatives are often dire.

Ruddington or smaller villages near West Bridgeford (Hickling, Long Clawson, Kinoulton etc.) are lovely and close to Nottingham. Excellent schools, both primary and secondary. Great city, great countryside.

Just don't cross the leicestershire border to live. Still have a middle school system in place in most areas (although are looking to get rid).

Although there are obviously good schools in general the secondary system is not great. It is one of the most significant factors for me moving outside leicestershire when I move.

We live in Cambridge and love it! The 'worst' schools are still perfectly fine, although of course, the 'best' schools are very hard to get into and terribly middle class mummy . Nice place though. If I ever get depressed I walk along the backs or by the river and remind myself how bloody lucky I am!

Do you absolutely mean England - or Britain? We live in Wales, the education system is great. Much less testing and as well as A levels, a baccalaureate qualification which offers more vocational experience. Cardiff is a fab city - like living on holiday (30 minutes drive from beaches, 10 in any direction for castles). We visit DP's parents in West Midlands frequently, beautiful drive along the Wye Valley to see them.

I would go for solihull as good proper comps with no grammar but all co-ed. Tudor grange or arden catchments or st peters if catholic but most schools in south solihull good.

The Wirral has under subscribed grammar schools, they cannot fill the places, if you pass you are in. In fact if you don't pass I've known children with 218 out of the required 236 to go to Caldy (which is boys) but Wirral Grammar for girls is having 2nd rounds of tests to fill the empty seats and offering uniform grants.

Buckinghamshire has grammar schools but not super selective ones, so if your child passes the 11+ places are allocated on distance rather than on 11+ score. Still not that easy to get into though, as universal tutoring pushes up the pass mark.

West Surrey or Hampshire. No grammars or single-sex, just fantastic comps and sixth-form colleges. My local comp teaches separate sciences, French, German and Spanish (and about to add Mandarin!), amazing sports facilities including full-size covered pool and huge playing fields (rugby, football, hockey, cricket, rounders and athletics). Local 6th-form college gets 20 kids a year into Oxbridge.

have a look at the Sutton Trust website - they just published some research about schools and university destinations which is pretty detailed and makes an interesting read - and includes some breakdowns by LEA. I know school isn't, for one second, all about what uni you get into but I do think it's an interesting, extra bit of info worth adding to your store, iyswim.

we live in Derbyshire - we have a good, non-selective comp - used to be a grammar and still feels a bit like one and we're close enough to sheffield - where 2 of the state non-selective sixthforms feature in the Sutton trusts top 100.

tbh if you've got a wide area to go on there must be easier ways to narrow it down than starting with schools - I'd use other factors (family, commute, house prices, city-v-town-v-village, etc etc) to identify a rough area first, and then start thinking about schools to narrow it down.

and if you're interested in London-ish Kingston is great. Tiffin Girls (grammar) is very academic and very good (as well as v. hard to get into) - but because it takes kids from all over London and Surrey it doesn't have the creaming off effect - meaning that the other state schools in the area are good as well. last time I looked (which was, I admit, a couple of years ago) the worst schools were average, iyswim. and friends using Kingston schools tell me they're very happy with them.

The Cotswold School in Bourton on the Water in Gloucestershire is meant to be excellent. Although mixed, they certainly used to segregate boys and girls for English and Maths.

Howerve, property prices may negate the non-paying side of state education here.