Moving to Ashtead- areas to avoid?

[Catholicmummy]

We are thinking of moving to Ashtead since it is in the catchment area of an outstanding catholic primary school. Can anyone who lives locally please give their opinion / advice about which are the areas to look at and which are the areas to avoid?
Also if one had to chose between Ashtead, Leatherhead, Epsom and Woking- which one would you choose?
Our deciding factors are

1. Primary schools
2. Connectivity by road and train to other parts of Surrey( Guildford, Frimley,Redhill etc) and London.
3. Good mix of cultures and a slightly more urvan vibe( not so important though)

P.s. We have never lived in Surrey before so are totally clueless about areas.- any advice would be appreciated. Cheers!

Ashtead is quite small and close to Leatherhead. I don't know whether it has that "urban vibe" that you would look for as it seems to have been taken over a bit by retirement properties. That said if you are set on attending the catholic primary school I would look to be within walking distance of that school as the traffic can be horrendous (I should say that I am not based in Ashtead but know the area well). The main street has some lovely shops and a food hall M&S which is very useful. Headley/Langley Vale are nearby and suit those interested in walking/biking.

Leatherhead and Epsom are bigger but suffer with traffic again. If you have a good walking route between the house and the school then you would be sorted. Woking is bigger again and spread out. If you are in town then the public transport is good, but don't rely on it in more rural villages.

Surrey is an odd county. Busy, built up areas surrounded by National Trust/Wildlife grounds and farmland. There can be constant noise from M25 and A3 if you are close by and you are under flightpaths from both Gatwick and Heathrow.

Where are you moving from? Can you make the trip and have a look around to get a feel for the different areas and schools.

Epsom ,Ashtead and Leatherhead all have limited rail links to those other parts of Surrey, Woking is only marginally better. You would be pretty dependant on M25 which is unpredictable at best of times. Epsom is very variable and urban, Ashtead relatively rural despite its location. The catholic school in LH is in high demand and you may need to live nearby to qualify for admission.

@LIZS Thanks for your advice. How far would you classify as nearby? We are looking at a place about a mile away. Considering we are Catholics too, I was hoping that would a reasonable distance- but please correct me if I am wrong.

Have you checked the admissions data for recent years? That should break done the intake by category, including distance.

The school (i think i know which one you are referring to) has offered places to all catholic children who wanted one in the past 3 years. Certainly being baptised catholic and living in one of the preferred parishes should be fine.

The high school is also in significant demand, but this is one of the feeder schools.

My parents live in Ashtead (and I grew up there) and I know the school you mean. Ashtead is lovely and leafy but it definitely doesn't have an urban vibe. I don't know if you have a dog but it's ideal for that because of the massive (and very lovely) common.

The rail connections to London are good and that was great when I was a teenager. Epsom is definitely more urban but I'm not a massive fan- but then I prefer more rural areas. Epsom is the next station along from Ashtead on a direct line to Victoria and Waterloo and it may well have improved a lot since I last went.

I really like Dorking but I expect you'd be out of the catchment area, slightly longer commute to London too as it's at the furthest end of the line.

If I had to choose between the places on your list, I'd choose Ashtead, then Leatherhead, then Epsom, then Woking. But I prefer Dorking to all of those, but as I said probably too far out of your way.

There are RC schools in Dorking.

True, I assumed the OP wanted a specific school in Ashtead. Maybe I'm thinking of the wrong school.

Thanks everyone for your advice.. My initial anxiety has now turned into excitement thanks to all the positive feedback I have received.

Ashtead is lovely. And St Peters is an amazing school - tough to get into though.

Ashtead is by far the nicer of the areas you've listed. Parts of Epsom and Leatherhead are a bit grotty.

As others have said, Dorking and Ewell are both nice (but out of the catchment area for St Peters and St Andrews).

Exact opposite of the urban vibe, but Bookham and Fetcham are nice villages with very good primary schools ( not catholic).

Are you practising catholics that go to church regularly? From my experience you need the local priest to know who you are.

If you do look at Woking have a look at st Dunstans, outstanding catholic primary. It's a lovely school and most kids go on to St. John the Baptist outstanding catholic secondary.

We are practising catholics but will only be moving to Ashtead in July. Is it quite difficult to attain the local priest's signature on the SIF for school admissions? Or would they be happy to do so if we are there for Sunday mass from July to December- it seems very strange to even ask though... because technically that shouldnt be the driving factor behind attending church 😫

You need to check the Faith eligibility criteria. Whether being baptised is sufficient, living in a parish, regular attendance at a specific church over a length of time, whether attendance at a current church can count towards it and so on.

It will likely be enough, but I'd maybe ask your current priest for a letter too?

It looks like the Ashtead school prioritises those who live in one of the local parishes but do not specify a minimum period of practising there. So as long as you go to the local church regularly from arrival you should be ok. Other RC schools may differ in this.

Hi there, we’re also thinking of moving to ashtead for schools and this thread has been super useful. We’re not from the area so it would be super useful to have advice on which bits of ashtead are best. Currently looking at a house on bramley way which is close to greville primary school but not sure if it’s a good road. Welcome any advice. Thanks

Honestly all of Ashtead is nice.

I know Ashtead very well; also Epsom, Leatherhead and Woking pretty well. I would choose Ashtead first and can’t think of anywhere that is particularly bad. Obviously some roads will have more traffic, be close to railways, etc.
As far as the church is concerned, it has a strong community with lots of young families. The current priest is very approachable.
I currently go to St Dunstain’s church in Woking, also good family feel and warm and friendly priest.
Good luck with the move!

The only downside I can see is if the village has road works or there is a problem on the A24 then that road can be used as a cut through. However, that is a case with a number of the roads around there. I haven't heard of any particular concerns in that area and as @Albgo says, all of Ashtead is nice.

One thing I did see earlier this week is that St Andrews do have a minibus that picks up from Ashtead Station in the morning (probably from Leatherhead). If you are considering St Andrews then have a look at their catchment area.

@Dashie Thanks!