Areas with excellent non-selective secondary schools in England?

[dzara]

Dear all,

I will be relocating to England in a couple of months and I am already panicking because all the information about schools in daunting. As this is usually one of the main criteria for narrowing down options, I would be grateful if you could point me to areas which:

• are within 1:30 h max travel to London by train
• have a good selection of non selective secondary schools
• give me the option of transferring to a grammar school in sixth form if GCSE scores allow obviously

I would prefer not to drive if possible unless it's unavoidable. So good public transport links would be a huge advantage as well as access to shops and amenities. Easy access to countryside would be lovely too.

That's it, not too hard to please am I! 😂

Many thanks!

Hello all, Midlands looks too far on the map. Anybody here from Hertfordshire? It looks well connected to London and a good choice of good schools. Might get a flat for my budget no?

How often are you needing to get into London?

Hampshire has some good schools and is non-selective. Your budget would be tight for Winchester, but probably okay for Eastleigh, Alton and possibly somewhere like Chandlers Ford. They are all within 1:30 of London. There are excellent sixth form colleges in the area including Peter Symonds which even the private school kids end up at.

How often are you needing to commute into London?

Trains in the UK - especially peak hour ones are very expensive.

If you are needing to go in a lot you will need to factor that and after-school/holiday childcare into your budget (also eye-wateringly expensive if you can find it).

Rugby is within your budget and both grammar school, decent enough secondary and an hour to london

better schools in Solihull or Warwick but you’ll need a budget if £1500

How about Rutland? Some great primaries, three options of good, non-selective secondaries. Options for travelling to London from Oakham, Stamford or (quickest and easiest IMO) Corby. There is a grammar school in Bourne which has a sixth form and would be an option depending on where in the county you live, alternatively Oakham has a small, relatively new, academic state sixth form college.

Just seen your comment about not wanting to drive too much - I think that would rule Rutland out, it's quite rural with limited public transport. Stamford maybe, but it's expensive and you'll need to change at Peterbrough to get to London which is a bit of a schlep.

It’s not fashionable, but have a look at Stevenage and the places that the train stops between there and Cambridge. Several places with perfectly decent schools, housing close to your budget and quick, frequent trains to London.

Sounds to me as tho the op wants to be a lot nearer London than some of these suggestions. Bourne is in Lincolnshire btw!

If you want to commute regularly to London @dzara but not live there you probably need the Home Counties - Berkshire, bucks, herts, Surrey, Kent, maybe Essex. All v £££ tho, as lots of other people had the same idea. Not really “most people” tho, as in, millions still live in London!

We need to know how often you want to commute to be able to make helpful suggestions.

Bishops Stortford (Herts) and Saffron Walden (Essex) have excellent non-selective schools and are commutable to London. Unfortunately, you may struggle with your budget.

We have very good comps in Bath as well as a to. If private schools. It only just fits on train though 1 hr 24 - and it's expensive by train

You haven’t got a chance on your budget. A shared room is 800-1000 in areas with great schools.

Hemel Hempstead, watford or Milton Keynes areas might be good. Not sure how pricey it is but decent non selective schools and probably cheaper than other areas

@dzara sorry I've just read your budget- that's too low I'm afraid for most of the places that are well connected to London and with very good non selective schools

Depends if you define "close" in terms of miles or travel time. Grantham is in Lincolnshire yet the train to London takes 1 hr 11 mins, so quicker than many home counties commutes. The fares will be more expensive but housing costs will be much, much cheaper.

How often do you need to go to London?

Durham Johnston is one of the best non-selective schools in the country. You can easily get a family home in Durham for £1200 a month and be close to the school and the station.

The journey into Kings Cross is direct and pretty pleasant. However, it is 3 hours. So not an everyday thing by any means. So it really depends on the necessity of the commute. You could commute to Newcastle instead, or Darlington where there are a lot of Treasury jobs now.

Cambridge is also a good idea, but rent on a two-bed flat in central Cambridge was £1200 ten years ago, so your budget might be tricky.

Something I'd add is it depends what school year your DC are in when you move.

In many areas to get into a good non-selective school, you also need to be in a feeder primary, meaning you need to be settled before year 6.

I would potentially target smaller towns with a good secondary that everyone in catchment goes to. Any town that has a number of schools will have competitive parents working to get their DC into the better schools. Add in a mainline train station within an hour of London and house prices will be steep.

Hello mums (and dads!)
Good point about the train fares and childcare! How much would I need to budget for childcare on average?

Sounds like what you gain in rent you lose in commuting time and fares anyway!
Commuting to London 2-3 days/week max.
I read somewhere that new builds tend to be cheaper. I would be OK with an apparemment, not necessarily a house.

Don’t forget the OP is also asking not to drive. In many of the areas, I’m sure good school and near public transport are mutually exclusive. Don’t know all the areas, but I see suggestions of Hampshire and West Berkshire. You really need to
drive to live there near good schools because they tend to be not in city centres but the leafy suburbs.

Unless you count walking an hour as something easily doable.

Yes, might be a good strategy, providing I can get somewhere suitable to rent in the right spot. Can you suggest a small town which would fit these criteria please?

Just saw your update. Commuting 2-3 days you need to be in London. Maybe Home Counties.

Childcare depending on the age. I just checked the nursery near me and it’s £63 a day. Before school and after school is £7.50 and £12.50. They close at 6pm and a commute from London will mean you miss pick up. I’m in Hampshire. You need to live much closer to be able to drop off at 8 and pick up at 6. Unless you and DH stagger your office days.

Before Covid I leave work between 3-4pm to make it back for pick up.

Oh and DH did drop off. So early start for me.

I'll have to get into sprinting in that case😂
My problem with driving is the traffic jams, just kills your soul.
But if in an area where traffic jams are not an issue then it's fine. But that means adding car expenses to my budget which I am hoping won't be too high.

Honestly OP I think your wishlist is very unrealistic, something will have to give. It might help if you could give an overall budget as to what you'd have available for rent, commuting and childcare as there will be a sliding scale across areas. As you say rent will be more achievable at £1200 in the midlands, but commuting 2-3 days will be extortionate. But trying to find a home big enough for at least 3 of you close to London with good schools for under £1200 is a bit of a pipe dream too, I'm over an hour away on the train to London in a cheap area and couldn't rent anything comfortable for £1200.

Alton, Hants.