I know it's not actually in Cambridge - but questions about Saffron Walden

[Greydove]

We are considering relocating from SW London but unsure

Can anyone comment on how busy the station car park is in Audley End?
How bad is the traffic in town?

Schools wise we are looking at the RA Butler Academy for Primary and the High School for Secondary

All input welcomed!

My bosses children go to RA Butler Academy and he is very happy with it. I know tons of people who go to SWCH for secondary and it is great. You will need to live actually in Saffron Walden though, as the admission boundaries have got a lot smaller recently. If you live on the Newport side you will probably get into Newport Grammar instead.
Can't comment on the station, I'm afraid.

Thanks that's very helpful

Audley End station car park is very busy, but there shouldn't be problems about finding spaces as it is very large. It can take a while to get out of the carpark in the evening (especially off the 18:07 train, which gets in just before 19:00). There's also a bus service into SW from the station and a cycle route ... recently created but somewhat strange!
Newport Free Grammar School has been renamed Dame Joyce Frankland Academy (after its 16th century founder).
I don't live in SW (live in village fairly near to SW), but it always seems to me a great place to live.

Traffic in town is a hot topic most of the time. The issue is that all the new housing is being built on the opposite side of town to Audley End station and the main road out to Cambridge so the main routes get busy at peak times. There is traffic, and it has increased as they've built more houses but it's no worse than traffic into/out of Cambridge for example. You can get across town within 10-15 mins even at peak times I'd say (and when it's quiet in a matter of minutes).

For schools SWCHS has an ever shrinking catchment as Duxy5 has said. If you are living in town itself you will certainly be fine at the moment, it's the villages outside that are now finding not all kids get in. The other primary schools in town are also pretty good nowadays, Katherine Semar is actually rated better than RAB at the moment and St Mary's has got itself back on track after a dodgy period.

I've never not managed to get a space at Audley End they extended the car park a few years ago and there are loads more spaces than there used to be. It's also the last stop on the Liverpool St line you are guaranteed to get a seat at generally.

Are your DC already school age? I get the impression that the schools in SW are pretty full, so I'd be careful when choosing where to live and relying on getting in year places.

Thanks all
We are looking at houses in town so I'm hoping I'll mostly be walking instead of driving
Commute is possibly an issue for us

Kids are all at primary already

Have you checked whether there are any places in the primary school you want in the right year groups?

No, I haven't, we are are a very initial consideration stage
TBH I would probably just suck it up for primary, I'm more concerned with secondary although I'm aware I have missed the date for normal application for that now

Sucking it up might even mean driving to a village school.