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!

My kids are soon to be 9 and 10, well past nursery. By the way are there laws in the UK about age children can walk from school alone and stay at home alone? (during the day)

Schools in Winchester (primary, secondary and Peter Symonds college for sixth form) are all really amazing but it’s likely too expensive.

@dzara you will need childcare until they go to secondary. They usually start walking to and from school here from year 5 and 6, so around 10. But they usually don’t go home and be on their own for hours.

I see the Pap mention Winchester. I wouldn’t count Winchester easy to live without a car. So it depends on whether you mean you prefer somewhere you can walk to shops and pubs, or you really mean good public transport like London.

I suggested Hampshire - I live there and took not wanting to drive into account! I know quite a few people where I live who choose not to drive as everything is within walking distance or public transport.

York?

What I mean for driving:

• not somewhere in the middle of the countryside where I would need to drive to the shops to get basic groceries etc

• not somewhere where I'll end up stuck in traffic jams anyway

Otherwise driving is fine by me.

Thanks lonacat 👍 am definitely looking into hampshire.

Your main challenge is going to be your budget, unfortunately. The rental market is a bit crazy at the moment. That amount with your criteria is going to be really tricky anywhere within reasonable reach of London.

I think you will be fine with most places if you can drive a bit. Most places should have shops and pubs. I am thinking you might get stuck if your kids need to be taken to football matches, or scouts/guides camp.

How much would be more feasible then?

£1400 would get you something like this in Bath- good area for secondary's too

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137699177

How many bedrooms do you want/need? Do you need office space if only commuting in part of the week? Outdoor space needed?

@Crikeyalmighty but how much is it to commute to London 2-3 times a week from Bath?

Or something like this in Frome

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/136862822

No one has mentioned Bedfordshire yet. Budget will stretch further. Not sure how brilliant you want schools to be but you could look into Flitwick . Secondary schools start at 13 in many parts of Bedfordshire. Redborne and Harlington are both schools in places on the train line to St Pancras. No grammar schools at all for a long way but the sixth forms in these schools are good. MK also has some excellent schools in some areas but they are often over subscribed. Again no grammars until over into Buckinghamshire.

If you want a non grammar area for Secondary, a selective sixth form won't suddenly appear!

@limons- an awful lot - hundreds of pounds a week- if you are commuting 2 to 3 times a week, you really need to be much closer in. And ideally 'in London zones' - the minute you get out of zones the cost rockets

@Crikeyalmighty even more so now they're scrapping the paper ticket travel card from January

@dzara I think you might have to rethink this somewhat- home county rentals are huge- even for 2 bed flats- as there is at the moment a huge shortage.

Even other areas aren't cheap unless you go to midlands, further north , south wales or rural. None of which are great for commuting a few times a week because of costs- I think you might have to forget the selective schools thing- but you can't get around rental costs and very expensive commutes if you moved outside the south east .

Do you have a job lined up too and started? Otherwise you will probably fail the rental checks unless you can pay 12 months upfront too

Hampshire, Surrey, W. Sussex.

I agree, I think you need to re-think the move unless you have signed an employment contract and if that is the case then go back to the employer and say the move is financially unworkable.

To give you an idea of the cost of renting, 1 room in a student house in Bristol is around £800 pcm from September.

OP you want Bishop's Stortford.

Not cheap, but excellent state schools.

OP, I think you're going to need to compromise.

It's unlikely you're going to get everything you want/need. And your overall budget is unclear.

Can you list your priorities and your budget? You'll probably need to be a bit more decisive or specific if you want real help.

But as an example, Hemel Hempstead is in Hertfordshire. Some good secondary schools. Parts are busy with traffic congestion, others easier to get around. 2 bed flats range from £1250-£1800 pcm. The cheaper ones are likely to be further away from the good schools and/or in more densely populated areas with difficult parking. A return train ticket is about £25 into Euston (25 min journey). Underground will be extra, but you'd probably get cheaper tickets if you pre-book. Holiday clubs range in cost from about £15 per day (10-3pm) to £65 for full day at sport centre. After school clubs are about £15 per day and childminders are about £75 per week (after school pick up to 6pm)

What about London Borough of Bromley?There are two selective schools for the whole borough so most of the secondaries are still very good. Look at Bullers Wood (girls or boys) and Langley Park (also separate girls and boys schools), many then transfer to the grammars line Newstead or Olaves for sixth form. Other grammars in Kent and Bexley also accessible. DD just left Newstead after 7 happy years there. Darrick Wood in Orpington is also popular. 35 mins on train on from Petts Wood or Orpington (direct trains to Charing Cross, Victoria, City, Blackfriars, Cannon St) , less time if further in near the Langley schools but less choice on destinations in London

I have read all your posts. I have lived in the outer London suburbs for 20 years and grew up in Kent. I am a buy to let landlady and have a primary age child.

Unless you have a really compelling need to move to the UK (and a decent relocation package), don't do it! You don't know enough about it and your budget is too low. You are potentially setting yourself and your kids up for a thoroughly miserable experience.

Pretty much all the parts of the UK that are reasonably commutable to London are very congested and very expensive. Rents aren't only expensive but there are many more renters than properties (the cheapest 2 bed house in my whole outer London Borough was £1,400 last week and there were only 10 available, mostly in the less nice bits).

Public transport outside of London is often poor (and/or pricey) which is why people drive.

The other issue will be you can't apply for a school till you have an address in the UK and schools anywhere with good jobs, transport etc are likely to be full. The local authority does have a responsibility to find you a place, but not two places in the same school and whether you can actually get the kids there isn't taken into account.

We are discouraged from kids travelling to school by themselves until they're 10 or 11, partly because of the amount of cars.

Sorry to be so gloomy. I went to Zurich for a few days earlier this year so I had the "it costs what?!" experience myself...

Thanks @Gazelda for all the financial details, does put things into perspective!

@Crikeyalmighty Wow, the size of these properties is huge for 200 pounds extra/month! The ones I've been looking at on rightmove near London are not that spacious, but am not surprised.

My plan is to rent on my savings to start with and then secure a suitable job once relocated. Paying a 6 months rent upfront in a suitable location and then use that time to find a longer term rent and suitable job (hybrid working arrangement). I was thinking if I narrow down the geographical area, being as close as possible to London, I will waste less time looking aimlessly. Don't know if am on the right track here, seems there are some hidden costs I haven't factored in.

I have looked into Cambridgeshire: very good non selectives but they seem to be scattered around villages meaning I need to find rent close by and they don't come up often.

Kent and Bucks are mostly grammar areas so not suitable for me. Sussex also from what I gathered. I did consider Milton Keynes but the choice of secondaries rapidly shrinks, I suppose because of the neighbouring grammar schools?

That leaves me with Hampshire, Hertfordshire and Greater London (yes I believe in miracles lol). Not too keen on venturing too far away from London because it is the place I know most in the UK having lived and worked there before.