Travelling from Cornwall to Plymouth High School for Girls

[Sheep999]

We’re planning to relocate from the Midlands to the St Austell Bay Area / Mevagissey area in a couple of years. Our daughter currently attends a state grammar school and is interested in studying her A Levels at Plymouth High School for Girls. We’re also considering encouraging our younger daughter to follow in her sister’s footsteps and sitting the 11+ exams. So my question is, are there many families in the Cornwall area whose children commute to Plymouth? how do they find it?
I know it’s an hour’s train journey each way.
we’re also researching local high school and A level provisions. My post isn’t about school recommendations at this stage, purely the travel and social / friendships experiences for existing or former pupils.
thank you in advance.

I think you need to be very realistic about the train and have a bombproof plan in place for the usual signalling issues, strikes, weather problems etc.

We frequently have no trains running through Cornwall due to the sea coming over the walls at Penzance and Dawlish so nothing runs between Exeter and Penzance....

We're also heavily affected by London route issues if there's a stoppage at, say, Reading or really anywhere on the GWR route.

Public transport here isn't that reliable tbh so I'd factor that in heavily to any house move. I get hire cars to go to Cardiff every month because I can't rely on the trains.

Interestingly it's about a 4.4% cancellation rate this last year which is above the national average. Feels like more! 😂

dataportal.orr.gov.uk/popular-statistics/how-many-trains-arrive-on-time/

I grew up in St Austell and literally no one commuted to Plymouth. I went to Truro High School for Girls (private), everyone else went to local state schools.

I now live in Liskeard and there's kids travelling to the grammars in Plymouth from round here. I'd say any further west than here you won't find kids commuting to Plymouth.

I know you haven't asked for recommendations, but Truro College is excellent and lots of kids go by bus from St Austell area (my nieces and nephew included).

It’s 20+ years ago but I commuted to PHS from Cornwall, via the grammar schools bus from Callington. It was a very early start and I got home late. I had friends who got the equivalent bus from Liskeard. There were a couple of people who sometimes got the train from Liskeard direction but they mostly got the bus as it was cheaper and more reliable. There wasn’t anyone who came in from St Austell way! I doubt it’s changed tbh but it would probably be best to contact the school and ask.

In terms of social groups the “local” girls seemed to stick together and the girls who travelled in from further tended to be friends, even if not on the same bus.

That's a bonkers thing to do. If you want her to go to that school, move to Plymouth.

Agree ... just move to Plymouth. Most in Cornwall go to the local schools, or some travel in to the private schools in Truro by train or school bus.

It's a long enough trek from Meva or Carlyon Bay to Truro. Nobody would consider commuting from there to Plymouth each day for a job, let alone by train for school. It's 15 - 20 minutes to get to St Austell station, then a hour to Plymouth if the trains are running.

The average speed on almost any road except the A30 in Cornwall is 30 - 40 mph. If you don't live here, you tend to assume that there will be dual carriageways and 60 -70 mph speed limits rather than the reality of village after village, all with speed cameras and speed bumps.

Take a look at Truro School or Truro High School. If those don't suit and you don't want state options in Truro or St Austell, move much closer to Plymouth. Then she will have the chance to see friends, join clubs etc.

I used to do the bus from Callington to PHS and that was enough. St Austell is so much further away, I wouldn't recommend it