Move from London with 12 and 10 year olds - possibly to Bristol

[impossible]

My dh and I are reluctantly considering moving out of London as we are finding it so expensive to live here. Might Bristol be a good place for us to move to? Dd, 12, and db, 10, go to excellent local mulitcultural state schools and we are very happy in London so I am concerned a move shouldnt be too radical. Does anyone have experience of such a move with older kids? Might it be too disruptive for dd - we would move next summer so she would go into year 9? I am also concerned about db (currently in yr 5) who is fanatical about sport and very good at it (not least football) and involved in a huge range of activities in London. Any thoughts would be very welcome, including thoughts about Bristol state secondary schools or other cities. Many thanks

Hi,
I have primary aged children, but from living in Bristol can tell you that the secondary sector is dominated by the private sector, meaning that many state schools are not great. The ones that are, are highly sought after and very hard to get into - golddust wouldn't be putting it too strongly. Some of the private schools are now academies. Ones to look at are Colstons School for Girls, Bristol Cathedral School, Redland Green School, Cotham High. Also talk of the Free School extending to secondary, i think.
As a place to live, Bristol is great. Loads on (culture, music sport etc), and so close to beautiful countyside.
Good luck with the decision

Secondary schools in Bristol are improving rapidly and have all now got new buildings. As well as the above you may also wish to consider St Mary Redcliffe and Temple (C of E) and St Bedes (Catholic). Fairfield High school is also worth considering as it is multicultural and rapidly improving.
The Bristol Free school opened in September 2011 but only currently has children in Y7 so wouldn't be an option for your Y9 child.
House prices near the best schools are higher than the national average but probably less than London. Public transport is probably worse than London as buses are expensive and there is no equivalent to the underground. Car parking and road congestion are also significant problems but this would probably be true for most cities.

I live just outside Bristol in the little town of Thornbury. The number of people who move out of Bristol to Thornbury (a distance of less than 10 miles) in order to get their children away from the Bristol secondary schools and into our (highly regarded) local schools is staggering. If you moved to north Bristol, you might still get your children into one of our local schools as quite a number come from further there too.

I am not saying Bristol schools are bad, but I have met a huge number of people who think so and have moved accordingly.

Sorry, didn't read before posting: I left an unnecessary "further" in there.

Thank you so much for all thoughts. Its a difficult decision, perhaps more so as we are taking it reluctantly.

I live in Cotham, North Bristol - You wouldn't believe how many people I have befriended who are originally from London and have moved here.(Who LOVE it here) Bristol is a fantastic place and does have good schools. My brother works at Cotham School which has just received 'outstanding' Ofsted, it's a great state school for lots of reasons, including being multicultural - I lived in London for 7 years and loved the mix of cultures. North Bristol is very much like this.
House prices are quite high which is a down side but I would really recommend Bristol, it gets better every year.There is so much going on especially for teenagers! I used to miss lovely London but not anymore. Been here 6 years and staying put x