Grammar schools and where to move to in UK

[Thegirlisnotright]

Where is a nice area to live with free grammar schools? Quite simply we could move anywhere, but know nothing about most of the UK 😂

I'd move to an area with good comprehensives. I grew up in a grammar/secondary modern area, and now live in a city with a successful comprehensive system. I would choose the city with comprehensives over the grammar one every time. My daughter is applying for secondary schools this year, and there is no stress, and I know that she will go to an excellent school which is capable of supporting her to the highest levels of academic achievement.

A recent finding from Radio 4 Woman's Hour. Best place in Britain to be a woman

Devon might not suit your needs TheGirl as there is only a very small airport in Exeter and house prices are quite high.

I agree about finding a good comp school and finding a house very close as you have no idea if your DC are capable of passing the 11+. However your requirements of good schools, nr airport and 400k for a 4 bed may be harder to achieve as a good school will push up house prices nearby by up to 25%.

I don't live in a grammar area but we have 2 of the top non selective state schools in the country in our town but you would need £500k to get yourself a 3 bed within a distance near enough to get admission.

South Manchester fits your bill and in Trafford borough there is a grammar system. Bear in mind this fact makes the houses there more expensive! But if your child is already 8 you'd need to get moving now to give him/her the best chance of getting in. Competition is fierce and they might still not get in.

Also agree that a far more realistic bet is looking to live in the catchment of a really good comprehensive so the stress of getting the child in would be much less, especially if you got them into the right feeder primaries first

I'd look around Kent and the London borough of bromley then. Bromley is super selective which means if no joy comps tend to be good. We live in catchment for an outstanding comp as well as having the grammar option. But £400k for 4 bed may be tricky! That budget rules TW out so it maybe the se is out in total.

Grammar schools in Gloucestershire are also selective. House prices in some areas are expensive. It’s also in the Cotswolds, not on the edge as as a PP mentioned

Confusingly, Tadcaster Grammar is not a grammar school by the way.

It’s also in the Cotswolds, not on the edge as as a PP mentioned - the grammar schools in Gloucestershire are in Cheltenham, Gloucester and Stroud. The 2 in Stroud are in the Cotswolds. The other 5 are not.

There is only one superselective - it is in Cheltenham.

Avoid Grammar areas.
Save yourself loads of stress and money on tutoring.
Pick an area with great comps

I was going to say Winchester but your house budget might be a bit low

Stratford upon Avon. Has King Edward VI boys Grammar School & Shottery Girls Grammar School. Also has Alcester Grammar School not far away which is mixed. Warwickshire in general is really nice & really central with good motorway links to Birmingham & London.

Try Trafford then. Great transport links, Manchester airport very close, great schools both grammar and secondary moderns are excellent. And northern people are salt of the earth 😉

Huddersfield/Halifax
We have 3 Grammars, close to 4 airports and for £400k you would get a cracking house, or you could get a lovely house for £300k and have £100k spare for Private school in case your child doesn't get into Grammar

If you want a decent house at that price I doubt Kent will fit the bill, you need to be further North. Gloucestershire has the transport links and has airports close by at Bristol and Birmingham.

The Wirral has grammar schools - two for girls, two for boys plus one of each for Catholic boys and girls.

And yet again we prove the old saw that anywhere there is a good comprehensive, house prices are about 25% above the norm for the region, so you end up with selection by income.

OCSock
Hampshire is more expensive than much of the UK
some of the schools are poor, some are amazing
but as the catchments are up to 11 miles across and thousands of kids do not go to their catchment Comp
your argument in no way holds water in this county.

To those recommending tutoring; my DD teaches in a Grammar, and most of the pupils are crammed for the entrance exam. 15 to 20% of pupils struggle to keep up once they are in class and eventually some have to drop out because their parents can't afford to keep up the constant tutoring they need.

All children need an introduction to the 11plus papers and a tutor will save you the hassle of doing it yourself.

The 11 plus test that they sit in Trafford covers maths that is not covered in our Primary School's until Year 6. The exam is taken at the beginning of year 6 so the pupils have not even started covering any of this work. Therefore it is essential that they are taught this work. It is not something that they would know instinctively without being taught it.

Also the non verbal reasoning again is very different from anything that they have never been taught at school. Therefore it makes sense to prepare them for these tests.

obviously it is foolish to over tutor children but a one hour session per week in year 5 and a couple of mock exams do not constitute over tutoring children. It merely gives them good preparation for the exam. You not ordinarily sit an exam without having studied the coursework and revised for it would you?

Grammar schools confer a minor academic advantage to the kids who get in
(around 1/3 of a GCSE grade per subject)
but those minor gains are wiped out by the disadvantage suffered by kids who fail to get in.

Thegirl
Think carefully about what you want for your child.
If you move to a grammar area and they fail the 11+ then you might be stuck with pretty poor options.

At least in a Comp area, if you move to a catchment, you will get in with no tutoring or other angst..

N Ireland is awash with grammar schools and has the best GCSE and A level results in the UK across the entire system, not just in the grammar schools. Going to a non grammar doesn't mean they are written off at 11.

Absolutely treacle soda. In fact some people feel that having to compete with grammar schools means that the secondary modern schools also pull out all the stops. In the area that I live in the secondary modern schools are all excellent as well they just cater for a different type of child. One that is not quite so academic. We have an outstanding sports academy for example.

Grammar areas are shit, we live in one by accident. SAVE YOURSELF.

Another vote for Gloucestershire - 7 grammar schools - 3 each single sex with mixed sixth form and 1 co-ed (although another is going co-ed next year). Good comps and a large selection of independents too, so everything is covered.