Newcastle or Durham areas

[WeeWeegieChick]

Moving to the North East with my teens.

£200k budget, need good public transport, gym and near the coast would be a plus but as long as we're near by that's fine.

Both DD are autistic so high school needs to have good SEN provision.

any suggestions?

Generally East of A1 is less desirable than West but that obviously is a generalisation and house prices reflect it.
Durham Johnstone is best state secondary school in Durham area but not sure on its SEN. There are specialist SEN schools in Darlington and Middlesbrough/Stockton but none of those are great places to live.
Most of NE is within 60 mins max drive to the coast.
Public transport is best around the towns (not surprisingly) and Newcastle + surrounding areas have the Metro BUT the region has been left behind in terms of transport infrastructure.
Can't give any advice on Newcastle schools as I'm south of Durham but you have 2 really good independent schools there so not sure how much they impact the quality of the state schools.
Avoid places like Washington etc ie anywhere directly on the A1.

Whitley Bay, Tynemouth, Jesmond, Gosforth are all east of the A1 and are desirable areas north of the river, though maybe outside your budget.

Whitley Bay High has a good reputation but the expected closure of Monkseaton High is going to impact on places.

The Metro is great east of the A1 and there's a new rail link going in from Ashington into Newcastle.

Your budget is probably more north or west of the city. We have friends at Thorpe (Ryton) who are happy with it, and the Catholic schools seem to come out well.

DM me if you want anything further.

Look at Whickham school - outstanding and has a separate autism unit attached to the main school.
Whickham itself is lovely.

Wickham is a good shout, I know staff there. Catchments are quite wide so you could get somewhere within budget nearby

Another recommendation for whickham. Although, I would check that the school isn’t over-subscribed. For 200K you might manage somewhere small in whickham or Dunston?

Im a teacher in the area with an ASD child. It really depends on your child’s presentation and how much support they would need in school. If you give more info I’d be happy to recommend.

Durham City schools- Leonard’s, Johnstone, Fram have a very poor reputation for SEN. I would not send my child to any of them.

County Durham wise- Sedgefield is a lovely village and has an excellent secondary school with SEN support. I’m sure they were featured on a BBC documentary.