GUILFORD: Where to live

[MandMsJunkie]

Not entirely sure this is the right place for my post but here it goes. We live in Central London and are seriously looking into moving to Guilford. We would like to be there within 8 to 10 months. The main motivation is school related. Problem is, we don't know the area well at all and we do not have any friends there, so we feel a bit overwhelmed by the amount of information we need to gather about areas, schools and so on. I thought perhaps you could help me. With a budget of 600K (absolute maximum) and two DS, one currently in Year 2 the other just started nursery, which areas would you recommended to ensure my sons will be in the catchment area of a good primary and then have the opportunity to go to a good secondary? By the way, private is not an option for us at all. We would like for this to be the ultimate move and not find ourselves in the situation we're in now, where moving is the only option we have to remove my DC from their current primary. Many thanks.

Bupham, Merrow or Onslow Village. The two good secondaries are George Abbot and County. The primaries that feed into these are pretty good. If you can get into the catchment for George Abbot, that's the best one. I think it came 23rd in the country in a recent poll.

600k will get you a 3 bed house in either Burpham or Merrow, you'd be surprised how ridiculous the house prices are for George Abbot catchment!

We're on the other side of Guildford where the primaries are good, but the secondaries are appalling. We have no idea how we'll afford to move into GA catchment.

I've lived in Guildford now for about 7 years and love it!

P.S. Unless you're Catholic and then there's St Peter's too...

Are you religious? Or an ardent Atheist? Mainly relevant for primary, but if you are C of E, you could send to a primary other than your local one. If you are a Catholic, then a good Catholic primary (and I think they are all good) followed by St Peters is a good choice.
Otherwise you probably want to aim for George Abbot catchment, but beware they are building new houses in the area, so the catchment is shrinking (or will be). Merrow and Burpham are fine, and you can get 3 bed houses in the area.

The rule I was told when moving to the town is to stick South of the A3, which is true unless you are a Catholic, and then there are some bargains near St Josephs.

If you are an ardent Atheist, you might want Boxgrove school, but it could be tricky getting your year 2 in as it goes from 4-11. A lot of other schools have an intake at 7.

It is a good place to live.

We're not ardent anything really so we'll be applying for non foundation places if school is C of E. Catholic would probably be out of the question and non-faith would be great. Thank you for the information so far, very useful. I would love to hear from more people. Thanks!

You still might be able to get into St Thomas of Canterbury (not sure with the new houses, but it has been an easier one to get into). Holy Trinity is worth looking at even if not in catchment, and then appealing, and it takes an extra class at year 3). Bushy Hill is the obvious one for Merrow. Burpham is harder as it is one form entry and all through.
Then on the other side is Queen Eleanors, which starts at 7.
Or Sandfield in the town centre which is all through, but does have a turn over due to a high number of overseas families.
Box grove I have already mentioned, is worth looking at and asking, but it depends on turn over.
If you can move before 11th January then you can apply for year 3 in the normal application round. Otherwise you wil be a late applicant, but people do move,