Winchester state schools vs London private schools? WWYD with 3 under 5?

[Motherhood12345]

We're currently facing a big family decision and I'd love to hear from anyone with experience of Winchester schools, or who has weighed up something similar.
We have three children under five and are planning a move from the North of England to either London or the South. My husband is a long-haul pilot based out of Heathrow and is away a significant amount of the time (nearly 50%). I work in finance in a fairly demanding role, and my husband's family are based in West Sussex.

We're torn between two options:
Option 1: London
Higher salary for me.
We could afford private school fees for all three children. Depending on where we lived, we'd either aim for a strong state primary followed by private secondary, or private education throughout.
More career opportunities for me.

Option 2: Winchester
Lower salary for me, but likely better work-life balance.
We'd rely on the local state school system, which has an excellent reputation.
More space and a potentially less hectic lifestyle.
Closer to family support.

What matters most to us is doing what's best for the children. We'd like them to have a strong academic education and access to good extracurricular opportunities. At the same time, I wonder whether having a parent who is less stretched and more present day-to-day is ultimately worth more than being able to fund private schooling.

For those who know Winchester, do the state schools genuinely live up to their reputation? Are there any other cities or large towns in Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex, Berkshire etc. that are better for access to excellent state education? And for anyone who has chosen between a high-pressure/higher-income route and a lower-paid but more balanced family life, do you have any regrets?

I'd be really grateful for any experiences or perspectives. Thank you!

Check out Londonpreprep.com, 3 children in London would be facing 11+ and the family and time commitments this would involved. London Prep schools will be giving assessments and age depending tests for entry. Check out on MN SW and 11+ threads to get a sense of competition and attainment levels.

Depending on what your finances are like, and your likely budget for a house, there are lots of places not that far from Heathrow that have good school options. Richmond, Twickenham, Kingston, Isleworth, Ealing etc are all within striking distance of excellent private and state schools. And you are not actually that far away from Winchester if you have family there, so very easy for visits if not day to day support.

What is difficult for you is knowing what kinds of private schools you'd want to apply to or be near since your children are so young that it will be hard to know what schools would be realistic for them or suit them.

West Sussex has Bishops Luffa which has an excellent reputation.

Winchester state schools do live up to their name within my circle of friends.

Winchester also has a good public transport system which isn’t always the case in certain places in Hampshire.

like with anywhere though it depends which part of Winchester you are looking at. There’s some lovely areas but some of the lovely old houses don’t come with the best parking options!

We have experience of moving older children to Winchester, so not exactly relevant to your children now, but it may be something to think about the future. Westgate is an excellent state school, and goes right through from primary to year 11. Then Peter Symonds sixth form has a deserved reputation for range of subjects, quality of teaching and extra curricular. We know quite a few ex-public school kids who opted for Symonds (not for financial reasons), and they are thriving there or have gone on to great unis. It's also a lovely place to live, friendly and a strong sense of community, with great communications.

What's your household income? London private schools now are upwards of £30k per year including the VAT.

3 of that is say £100k per year, for which you have to earn over £160 gross.

They will more than double between reception and sixth form so by then you'll be looking at well above £200k per year from taxed income to educate three children - in my experience, even leaving aside VAT, they double plus another 25% or so from reception to year 13.

Can you afford that long-term? How secure are your jobs?

Absolutely second Peter Summonds.

Im from down the M3 and along the M27 and there’s lots of Indies here without 6th forms and most go to Symmonds.

Not what you asked, but London state schools are better than anywhere else in the country

The Winchester option sounds much better. There are threads on here all the time from people who are tearing their hair out due to work life balance.

Outer SW London (eg Hampton,) or Windsor or South Bucks (eg Amersham) might also be worth considering.

@Motherhood12345 I mean this level of detail is not my business but how much is the salary differential that it enables a) London house prices and b) London private schools for three? I would think a similar house in a nice area of London could cost £500k + more than in Winchester, and private schooling at secondary level in London would be £25-£30k per head at least now as @ForDreamyMintHare says, and maybe £30-35k by the time you get to it.

I guess you are going to save hard through the primary years. And maybe live in a much smaller place in London. But even so. The difference would be at least £125k per year net, so a lot more than that gross, as a very conservative estimate. Are you actually going to earn that much more in London? I am just showing my ignorance of this level of career I guess. Or is it less of a differential, but the Winchester option will leave you with a lot more spare ££?

If the difference is a lot less than £125k (and rising) then I would definitely look at Winchester; it’s a lovely place and the schools are great (from what I read; no personal exp). Also as a PP notes you would miss the hideous (again, from what I read) London 11+ rat race. And with the extra ££ that I suspect might be available you could have a really lovely life.

Why don't you also consider London and state schools? They are generally good and better than out of London. Richmond, Kingston and Sutton have particularly good state schools even allowing for the grammar schools.

Winchester has various good comps, everyone ends up at PS, unless you choose elsewhere such as Barton Peveril.
No 11+ angst either.

OP doesn't have to go through 11+ if her DC get into an all through school at 4 or 7 (or at any other point if the schools are not super selective).

I would add Barnes, Putney and Wimbledon to the list of London areas.

What is difficult for you is knowing what kinds of private schools you'd want to apply to or be near since your children are so young that it will be hard to know what schools would be realistic for them or suit them.

That's true but on the other hand the youngest ones haven't missed the boat of 4+.

London does have some good state secondaries too

Winchester is great for schools and quality of life. Have a look at Alresford too - Perins is a very good rural school.

Option 2 and use the money saved by going state to top up your pension and buy extras for the DC in terms of tutoring/ trips / extra curricular.

Winchester isn’t that well connected to Heathrow. The senior schools are all excellent. I absolutely couldn’t fault the one my older two attend. However I think the primary schools are bit more mixed then they were a few years ago. My older two went to what was then considered the ‘best’ one, which was amazing at the time but that’s had some issues and staff turn over since then. One of the other formally highly regarded ones also had something similar and the one my eight year old attends now people also think is great but I don’t rate at all. It’s soulless and terrible at communicating with parents.

Really?? I’d question that 😂. My nephews had to come out of their S London states as they were dreadful. Only one school, granted, but it’s a bold statement!

Richmond
The 490 bus goes directly to Heathrow.
Outstandng state primaries, then excellent choice of private secondarirs.
Easy commute for you into the City.

On the extra curricular side of things, what are the state schools like in Winchester? Near us, the state schools have very weak extracurricular provision, so friends with children at state schools spend a lot of time ferrying kids to clubs and sports. Would you have the capacity/support to do that for 3 children?

@AvonCallingBarksdalethere are some very good schools but it varies a lot by borough

We are in north London with 2 dcs in private school. I would say that if you have the finances, London is an excellent place to raise and educate dcs. Our dcs are in a top all-through prep, they do a wide range of extracurriculars, they view world-class cultural performances and exhibitions monthly, and there's a whole range of facilities/services at your fingertips - summer camps, childcare, intensive courses, sports, music, private medical care and SEN specialists, opportunities with institutions and employers that you only get in the capital, and public transport which allows them independence from a young age.

It will cost a lot and you'd have to expect school fees to at least double by the time they leave for uni. But living close to work can help boost your career here as work-life balance is better with an easy commute (DH and I both walk to the office in 10 mins or wfh).

It's a completely different lifestyle to Winchester and it's not for everyone, but it also brings great opportunities that aren't available elsewhere.

Google it and you will see it's true. Obviously some individual schools are worse than others, but overall there is a lot to be said for London schools. And if you can choose where you are moving to, with a decent budget, you will buy where the good schools are.

Edited to add this link https://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&client=ms-android-samsung-rvo1&source=android-browser&q=why+are+london+schools+so+good#lfId=ChxjMe

Not every school in London is good but overall it does have the best results of any region in the country and there is a greater concentration of high performing schools in London compared to other regions. So if you want a good state school and have the resources to move close to it, it's a good place to find one.

If they moved to eg Richmond or similar, there probably wouldn't be any need for the 4+ at all. There are lots of really good primaries in Richmond that regularly send children to a whole range of private secondaries. And there are quite a lot of very good state secondaries too.