Commute from North London to Westminster Under School

[Archibald33]

Hi All - I am looking for suggestions on how best to manage my DS’ commute from North London to WUS. He has been offered a place at 8+. We currently live in Hampstead and were looking to move a bit further North (Hampstead Garden Suburb or Child’s Hill). The estimated commute time from these areas to WUS is about 50 mins by public transport. There seems to be no school
coach. My questions:

1. If your DS here or anyone you know does this commute, how do you/they manage? Any tips?
2. If we looked to move closer to the school which areas would you recommend? We have a younger DS at a Hampstead pre prep so moving south will be challenging unless we moved him too.

Thank you!

Congrats to your ds, you must be super proud. Sorry to not be of more help but there is an 8+ 2023 WUS .... thread in primary education if you scroll through...

We're in Hampstead and manage the commute to the Great School (not WUS) pretty well. Drive to West Hampstead or Finchley Road and then it's pretty quick on the Jubilee line. For the Under School you'd change at Green Park and get the Victoria line to Pimlico I suppose. From Golders Green you could take the Northern line to Warren Street and then change to Victoria line. One of the reasons we chose Westminster over SPS was because it was closer. It's doable.

In the old days there used to be a school bus for WUS kids. Is this not operating any more?

Lots do it on public transport as above and there's a bus for the senior from GG tube. But most bits of HGS are a long walk from Golders Green tube so I probably wouldn't make that move as you'll be significantly increasing the commute time. I'd stay put in Hampstead until you know where your older child is going and work from there.

Thanks @hampsteadmum No school bus from any of the NW postcodes unfortunately! I am trying to evaluate if the commute you’ve outlined would be too onerous for a 8 year old.. it would be a minimum of 45 min one way. It’s either this or moving a bit further south but struggling with the idea of it!

@monitor1 a very valid point. DS2 is 2 years away from 7+ though and we are bursting at the seams in a 2 bed flat! Might need to find a bigger temporary place in Hampstead itself.

Are you planning on him travelling alone ? Could you ask the school if there are others from your area going and set up a travel buddy type system ?

My son used to go to the Hall from Year 1 to year 8. It took a good half hour during the school run from one end of NW3 to the other... 🤪 My daughter went to NLCS in junior school. 40-45 mins away. She was fine. She's now at SPGS which is also mins way. I too went to school 45 mins away from home from age 5. WUS is a great school and in my view worth it. Others may of course disagree.

Definitely not planning on him travelling alone, more concerned about commute time. Good idea about travel buddy system though - will ask the school!

@hampsteadmum thanks for sharing your experience. In fairness I think he won’t mind it all that much, I was just worried about over tiring him with the commute which he’ll probably get used to in a few months..

If you van move closer even for just a few years, I would

We did 90 minutes each way commute with DD from when she was 5 in Y1.

Moved out of London, no spaces in local primary plus endless rail strike issues that meant we couldn't have been home reliably for a childminder. So just kept her at the London Primary and we all commuted together. It worked fine.

She does a similar length commute on her own for secondary now.

The main thing to aim for are the minimum number of changes. It's a pain waiting, more chances of delays and you can't do anything. Decent stretch of time on a train/tube/bus you can read a book or get homework done.

There is a school bus starting pretty up north London (I forget exactly where) and last stop is Baker Street before heading to WUS. You should contact school to get list of stops. You may have to drive to the nearest bus stop. It is a long commute but many boys take it.

@OhCrumbsWhereNow wow 90 min one way is long! What did your dd do during commute? Agree that it helps if there is minimal changes- we trialled our commute this weekend. It is 45 min one way door to door and then DH will need to do another 20 min to his office.

@njshore we did ask the registrar and were told no bus routes from the north but last years prospectus does outline the route you mention for minibus ie Stanmore-Edgware-SJW-Baker Street-WUS. Need to confirm if this will be available next school year and then see how we do the drive to SJW. Our natural starting point would be East Finchley on northern line.

We had almost an hour on one train - guaranteed seat as we're one of the early stops, then tube and a walk.

In early years we played games, did colouring or reading and any homework. Later years she watched crap on YouTube and Netflix 🙄

@Archibald33 Did you ever get an answer about whether there is a NW London to WUS bus? I’m wondering the same thing..,

If you check the recent parents handbook for WUS I believe there is a section about the bus:

"North-West London
A bus currently runs between North-West London and WUS in the mornings and afternoons.
The route is currently:
Northwood-Pinner-Stanmore-Hendon- Finchley Road-Swiss Cottage-Baker Street-WUS"

@HarryPitta ah great. We’re not current students so I wanted to verify with someone whose children are currently at the school, as we won’t bother with 8+ if there is no bus. The commute would be unworkable for us.

What’s an “under school”?

@GodessOfThunder it’s just what they call the junior school at Westminster

Can anyone confirm if there is a bus from NW London to the school? The WUS booklet says there are only 2 busses from West London, no mention of NW London post codes.

@HarryPitta ,
where can I get more information on "runs between North-West London and WUS"? please. School website doesn't say much.

@Moonseason , did you manage to find any bus service information from pinner/northwood/eastcote to Westminster school?

@allgood13 I’m afraid not, no.