Peterborough schools? Primary and Secondary

[Eec27]

Hello all,

We're contemplating buying a house in Peterborough but we're totally new to the area (moving due to DH's job) so it's a bit daunting!

We are looking at Cambridge or Peterborough. We're confident of good schools in Cambridge but not sure how good the schools are in Peterborough, especially for more academic kids. We obviously get more house for our money in Peterborough though!

Would love to hear about good state primary and secondary schools near the town centre and any experience of Peterborough or Oundle independent schools.

Any insight gratefully received! Thanks so much and apologies for any errors in where/ how this is posted - my first post!

This isn't quite what you're asking, but where is your DH's job? Commuting between P'borough and Cambridge isn't for the faint-hearted, so I would choose to live wherever the job is (or is closest to). Cambridge schools are generally very good. Peterborough more mixed, I believe. King's is seen as the most desirable state school, from what I hear, and Peterborough School (independent) has small classes and seems to get good results.

Agree with biscuit. Where will your job be? You couldn’t pay me enough to compute between pboro and Cambridge.

Thanks so much both. DH works in Huntingdon so a manageable commute for both, especially if getting the train from Peterborough. We've looked at Huntingdon but would prefer to live somewhere a bit bigger. I'm a teacher so could hopefully find work in either once the little one starts school.

Well the A1 or the train from Peterborough to Huntingdon should be OK. The A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon, not so much, although should be better once all the improvements are finished. However, if I had the choice.... (but I am a Cambridge resident so I'm biased!).

Kings is seen as desirable but is v hard to get into - it's mostly CofE or Methodist, with 12 places each year on academic exam and 3 music places. It gets v good results but obviously a lot of that is down to the intake.

Is there a reason you're looking at the town centre in particular?

Thank you very much, that's good to know RE Kings. We are church goers but understand we couldn't guarantee getting in.

Our family are all down in Kent and like getting the train to visit us pretty regularly for babysitting and bits (make the most of their OAP train fares! ) so it would just be much easier to stay connected if we stayed central. We also quite like the idea of kids not relying on us for lifts everywhere in the future so central looked good. By contrast we love Cambridge but could only afford to live in one of the outer villages so highly dependent on cars (or slow buses).

Any idea on Peterborough primary schools or Oundle school?

If you're looking at living near the station and can afford to consider independent, have a look at the Peterborough School. Alternatively people seem to like Arthur Mellows which is North of Peterborough.

And Oundle I think is proper old school posh as opposed to an independent alternative with smaller classes and more personalised, familyish ethos which seems to be the main strength of Peterborough School. Lots of rugby, boarding etc at Oundle. Another thing altogether. Horses for courses I guess!

You've got a pretty good chance with Kings if CoE / Methodist - about 70% last year. (But no places last year for other denominations / other faiths.)

It's a good school that talks a lot about being a family, but I'm not convinced that it's that brilliant pastorally. It tries quite hard to be old school posh.

You can stay central / connected in PB without having to live in the city centre. There are good bus routes and cycle paths (green wheel) for the majority of the city.

Peterborough hasn't had a reputation over the last few years of being a particularly nice city (once voted rape capital of Britain I believe)......I would look at somewhere like Stamford (12 miles from Pboro) and on the A1 for easy commute also once voted best place to live in Britain, good independent boys and girls school (but less posh than Oundle or Uppjngham)

Stamford is beautiful, but you will get way less for your money house wise there.

Peterborough is fine - it's not quaint and cultured, but it's far from being a crime capital. It has good amenities, lots of green space, and it's very easy to get to places that are quaint and cultured.

And also Stamford is hardly handy for commuting to Huntingdon and isn't really bigger than Huntingdon, whereas OP wants somewhere bigger. I also think Peterborough is fine if not beautiful, and is actually quite well connected to other parts of the country, whereas Stamford is not.

Oundle is a lovely little market town but quite pricey for houses, the neighbouring villages less so. Oundle School is not overly ‘posh’ but totally inclusive. Parents def range from builders to bankers! Always teaching jobs going, great nursery, primary and prep school all in the town as well as a state secondary- Prince William which has a good reputation too. Easy to get to Peterborough station! Lovely shops, community and monthly market. Worth a visit to see for yourself.

Bedford and st neots are commuting distance from Huntington too. Some good schools in the Harper Trust or Kimbolton.

Thankyou all! Definitely interested in seeing Oundle, good shout. And helpful to have the state school names to look into. I've heard good things about Kimbolton too.
I think Stamford is a bit too far/ small for us but we definitely need to get a visit in there before they pave over the cobbles (apparently!)

Oundle vs Stamford? I’d pick Stamford, oundle is lovely but is very limited for things to do. There just isn’t much going on, and shopping/evening your limited to just a few places whereas there is far more variety in Stamford.
Stamford to Huntingdon by train is doable, although not that frequent. If driving make sure you do the journey during rush hour as wansford can be busy going south and Huntingdon can be a pig to get into.
Good luck

Look at Stamford school..?

So. Peterborough is really not very nice. I wouldn’t voluntarily live there. Have you considered a village in tat area instead? In terms of schools the best school in that area is Witham Hall. Oundle is perfectly fine, as is Copthill and Uppingham. The Peterborough School isn’t really anything special. I definitely wouldn’t use it for senior school. Stamford School is not good. In terms of commuting I would avoid a full driving commute. Your best bet would be living within a short drive of Peterborough station/Walking distance to Stamford Station (parking is problematic). Lots of good schools in Cambridge though. Although they are more of the pushy variety from what we could tell of open days etc. Good luck.

Oh and don’t send them to kings in Peterborough (is that the kings were talking about?). We had some friends with children in that school and they were really let down.

Stamford over Peterborough in a heartbeat. Stamford has lots more going on, and loads of indie shops, bars and restaurants plus a an arts centre and theatre with lots on. It depends how reliant you are on pboro station really which I get.

That being said pboro isn’t as bad as you might think. The cathedral is beautiful and train station very well connected.

Peterborough was voted one of the worst places to live in the uk so lots of investment going on which is a plus. As you say it is very inexpensive compared to other cities commutable from London. It's a strange city, I feel, as all the other cities I ever lived in had a university and businesses which meant lots of coming and going of different people. Peterborough doesn't attract new blood in the same way and the young people are generally locals so the feel of the place is more like a big small town. However, like all cities it has suburbs and areas which feel like a separate place, so you'll certainly find somewhere that you like.
If Stamford is too small for you then Oundle certainly will be.
Both Stamford and Oundle Schools get good results. Oundle has Laxton House which is all day pupils. If you would consider moving west or south then Kimbolton is doing really well at the moment.

If you already live in Cambridge I am agog that you would even consider Huntingdon. If you want cheaper areas than Cambridge itself you could look at Ely and the villages between Ely and Huntingdon.

I concur with others on options for places to live - if you're after somewhere larger (and definitely want to rule out surrounding villages)? Ely or St Neots might be worth a look but does depend on the school run too.

North of Cambridge will be better to get onto the A14 - maybe Madingley, Histon or Impington for both getting into Cambridge (check proximity to park & ride or buses) and then getting kids to school.

Do also check out Kimbolton's school bus timetable - it's a pretty extensive network so it might help you form a decision.

The A1 between Stamford and Peterborough services / Alwaton is a death trap. It’s a no go zone going north on Friday afternoons. I say this as someone who used to live there and a friend’s husband was killed along that stretch. If you must live in Peterborough then look at the south villages and look at Kimbolton which is actually a lovely little town (but not much to do). I can see why you want to move but Cambridge is a very hard act to follow.

I know that I coming to this rather late but we went through the exact same thing about seven years ago when we moved down from Manchester to Peterborough.

When it comes to independent schools, nobody here has mentioned Oakham yet. We found it to be an excellent school, they also do a mixture of day, flexi-boarding and full boarding which is great so that your DC can mix and match what they want to do.

Also, it's easy to get from Peterborough to Oakham by train and you'll see day pupils in the middle and upper school doing that so you won't have to drive them there and back.

When it comes to Peterborough, as others have said, you don't need to live right in the city centre as there are some good bus routes that easily get you from the suburbs into the bus station which is a 3 minute walk from the train station.

When it comes to primary schools, the better ones tend to be out in the small villages that surround Peterborough but there are plenty of fine primary schools in Peterborough itself. Although, there are also some truly bad primary schools as well.

Without naming names, in Peterborough it seems that the better the area is, generally speaking, the better the primary school is.

If you do want somewhere near the centre then I'm told that All Saints CofE is very good.

With secondary schools there are certainly some to avoid, such as the Queen Katherine Academy (that one has a long history of failing, it was so bad they've had to rename it a couple of times as it had such a bad reputation under its previous names).

Apart from Kings, Hampton is quite a good school and you might also want to consider Jack Hunt or Bushfield as well.