moving to Guilford from London

[Falvit]

hi, our 4y DD got offered a place in GHS and we will be looking to move to Guilford from London. We both work full time in London, 2 days WFH and 3 days in the office.
We love living in city and ideally would love to stay in London but unfortunately DD didn't get any offers in schools around so we are considering moving to Guilford.
I'm just wondering how big a shock to the system it will be for us, frim a parents perspective, please. Here we walk to the nursery, some of DDs classes are walking distance too, otherwise a tube or a bus ride. We have access to plenty of resturants, museums and activities we can enjoy as a family. We also have plenty of activities for adults if we would like the odd night out. It's also a nice, international professional environment which we really enjoy.

I might add I don't drive and I know this will have to change when we move to Guilford. Of course we love Guildford as a town, it's beautiful, but I'm wondering:

• how bad the work commute will be - how bad driving DD to extra activities,
• how international Guilford
• how many kid&adult friendly activities there are to do

(currently DD does horse riding, tennis, dance) and how repetitive they are.

Basically, I'm wondering if after 3 months we will not exhaust what Guilford has to offer and will miss London. I'm also worry about the amount of traffic and spending precious hours sitting in the car.

Also to take into consideration is that we don't have any family around so it's just us.

All responses welcome, we genuinely have no pre conceived ideas so looking for all opinions please.

As Surrey goes, Guildford is not too bad in my opinion. I did find other parts of Surrey too suburban for me. It’s a good size with plenty going on but a longish commute into London. It will be less diverse than most parts of London.

Would I move out of London for a primary school? Probably not, but I live in an area with excellent state (and private) schools so it’s not something I’ve ever had to consider.

Its a nice enough market town and there are things to do. Certainly riding, tennis and dance. The universities science park is a big employer so there are professional jobs in the town itself. Lots of people commute so it must be doable. Traffic is a pain

Its not London. There's not lots of museums and there isnt a world city vibe.

I would really think carefully about moving somewhere just for a school, especially for primary (I appreciate that the school goes up to 18) and I say this as someone who did just that. What if the school doesn't work out for your daughter?

It is a very different life in Guildford. Lots of outdoorsy stuff not so far away but you need a car for everything. There is nowhere near the same amount of cultural opportunities or diversity (again, this is from experience).

Is there really not a state or another private you could send her too? Even if it meant moving within London.

We moved from central London (walking to work in the City) to rural Surrey specifically for GHS (DD had offers from good London schools but we wanted her to grow up outside of London; we have family in Guildford too). Definitely experienced a bit of culture shock in the early days (especially as we’d lived and worked abroad in cities previously) but no regrets at all. We love the school, she has been able to do all her activities (driving is certainly helpful) and London is on the doorstep for culture etc as and when.. As they get older, their weekends seem to be busier with sports/ music etc but we make a point of going to London several times during the school hols for theatre/ concerts/ museums/ art galleries etc. Also airports are super close for family travels!

The commute into london is ok from Guildford - 30 mins on fast train to Waterloo (and my office is 5 mins on the W&C line to Bank). But I find the pubs, bars & restaurant choice VERY poor. The atmosphere is just so different to london. I find myself jumping in a train to CJ or london for bars & restaurants.

Would also add that avoiding all the 11+ drama has been a massive bonus!

Not a helpful comment but surely there must have been more local to London school options for a 4-year-old who was intelligent enough to get into GHS? The completion for primary is crazy for people from Surrey without having to factor in the London folks - who already have an abundance of schools on their doorstep.

Hi OP, we are in the same position and are still considering whether to make the move to Guildford or not for the school. (DD also has an offer from a SW London Prep). Have you made the decision? Wondering what you thought in the end?