London vs Royal Tunbridge Wells

[Hellenhellen]

Hi mums 

I will be moving from Turkey to the UK with my two daughters, 8 and 12-year-old. 

i used to live in London for 12 years before moving to Istanbul. I was single then and life was good in London.
Now with the kids, I need some advice.

My 12 year old has some English, but 8 year old can’t really speak much. I am considering state schools to start with and try for 11+ and 13+ exams for grammars for both for kids. Possibly private education from year 10/11 year onwards.

I have a close friend who lives in Royal Tunbridge Wells therefore I considered that area thinking she can help if I need. There is a Christian school with great GCSE and A level results. However, we’re not Christian so I’m worried about being left out even if they could get a place on non-Christian category.

I lived in Beckenham and ;Bromley and Dulwich between 2002-2012 and I liked bromley most. 

my, motivation is education however, I want to be in a nice society where I can have friends, play tennis, go out for walks, some parks, maybe Riverside, and shopping center but it is cold and wet. With all this, I considered Kingston to be a good area and a good schools around is in Ham and Twickenham. However, I don’t know this area as I don’t know royal Tunbridge Wells.

I am a white collar working from home on a contract and I may need to work in the long term. I will be away from my husband who will be staying in Turkey and he will try to visit us as much as he can. 

We had a hard relationship, I decided to separate, filed a court order, but then he apologized and we decided to try again. I feel like we might do better if we are in a long distance and carry on the marriage for the kids sake. At the same time I am scared of moving and the hardship that we will go through too.

it is a tough decision to make; my initial question is, would you prefer London versus Royal Tunbridge wells? I don’t want kids feel singled out as they won’t have the father around. Also, I wanna be able to socialize. At the same time I know living in London is more costly which means less equality of housing. I’m planning to rent a flat to start with and my budget will be between £2500.- 3000 at the max. 

Look forward to your opinions moms. Thank you so much in advance. Edited