Woking, Guildford or Reigate? Moving to Surrey with 2yr old - can anyone recommend best area for all-round schools...?

[Doryzurich]

Apologies for throwing a needle in a haystack, but my DH and I are moving to Surrey from abroad with our 2yr old and 11yr old. Hoping to get 11yr old into private boarding school so that he can settle down in one place for the next 6 years and we're not under time pressure to decide on area to live as he needs to start this September.

So my energy is now turning to the 2yr old. I know there are a gazillion web sites I could trawl through, but can anyone give me a heads up on the areas that are well-known for their good state primaries or pre-prep schools? Ideally (although might be a step too far) leading onto great grammar or secondary schools.

Any advice, gratefully received as not sure where to start my search. Both of us also need to commute into the City (Ldn Waterloo or Bridge).

West End, which is between Chobham and Lightwater - great state primaries both in the village itself and in nearby villages (Windlesham, Chobham, Lightwater and Bisley) as well as Gordon's which is a secondary state boarding school (takes local day pupils too) and very much has a private school ethos and results.

West End is about 20 mins from Woking and 15 mins from Brookwood which are both on the fast line into Waterloo.

Surrey in general has very good state primaries. Do you know where your 11 yr-old will be going to boarding school? Presumably you will want to be fairly nearby.

The Woking commute is the best in Surrey (25 mins non-stop to Waterloo and trains very frequent), but Woking itself is not the most attractive town to live in and its schools don't have great reputations. You could of course look at schools on the outskirts - Hoe Bridge in Old Woking is a private mixed pre-prep and prep which has a good reputation.

I'm in the middle of applying for King Edward's in Witley, LVS Ascot and Royal Alexandra and Albert School in Reigate...so a bit of a spread of schools, but they are the ones that had spaces for Grade 8! I've heard that Woking is a great commute - as is Reigate/Redhill although I haven't heard much about the area - but that it's better to be in the surrounding villages.

I assume, though, that I'd have to be pretty lucky to get a house near a great state primary - especially in the short time scale that we have available (4 months). Is the catchment area as tight as I've heard...within 200m in some places...? Or does that only apply closer to London? It's difficult to know the reality of the situation being so far away....!

There are houses on the market in good catchment areas but expect to pay a premium for them.Catchments are larger further out.personally I`d rather be in a smaller house near a better school.

what about Godalming?-(She says again-sorry folks)

I think the thing to remember about the commute into London is to factor in the 'whole journey'. Not just the length of the train journey.

Woking, to me, wins hands down.

Private schools are: Hoe Bridge, St Andrews, Greenfield (all mixed) and Halstead (all girls) - all walking distance to the station.

St Dunstans (Catholic), Goldsworth Primary and Horsell Primary are all very good state primary schools.

Housing is expensive - at least 450/500K for a decent'ish house within a mile of the station.

Reigate is not as good for commuting. Although the trains go in to Victoria or London Bridge they are not terribly frequent and outside the main peak times you need to change at Redhill.

On the plus side there are excellent state schools from nursery to sixth form. Holmesdale and The Parish school are both rated as outstanding by OFSTED infant school with nursery/playgroups attached. There is a terrific demand for places at these schools but to live close enough is not as bad as the 200m London type scenario. If you live close enough to get a place at one of these (and there is accommodation at a variety of prices) you would also be able to walk to the station.

Reigate Priory junior school is also rated as outstanding and is a very large school housed in a grade 1 listed building in the large park. Interestingly it is regularly featured on TV as it has a particularly large number of male teaching staff.

Reigate itself is a lovely place to live with a community feel and a wide range of shops, bars and restaurants and although there is a lot of traffic most parents feel it is sufficiently safe for older primary pupils to walk to and fro unaccompanied.

I'd second the commute from Woking. I used to live a 10 minute walk from the station and did from home to Bond Street in an hour. The town itself is dire, but as people have said, the villages around there are much nicer.

I can't help with schools though. My DN are at Oaktree Infants and Hermitage Juniors in St Johns, the former being outstanding but the latter not so good, according to my sister. They also feed into Winston Churchill, which hasn't done very well on its latest Ofsted, but has outstanding sports facilities.

I'd second what Kadinsky says - Reigate is lovely!

Live in Reigate, but commute from Redhill - that's what most people do! Trains from Redhill to London Bridge are pretty good, and there are a few connections at peak times to Reigate (which is a smaller station on the Guildford line).

State schools are great, but hard to get into.

You know RAA is a state borading school - not independent? Although it likes to 'sell' itself as independent!

How about living in west/east horsley - train into waterloo plus in the catchment area to the raleigh school in west horsley and howard of effingham for state secondary. Surrounded by private schools too.

This is great info - thanks ladies. I think it's going to be between Woking and Redhill/Reigate.

This a question for those in the Redhill/Reigate area - is it easy to park at Redhill station or do you need to walk? Sounds like living in Reigate but commuting from Rdhl could be the answer.

I think it will come down to where my 11yr old gets in. ReigateMum - I did know that RAA is a state boarding school although I think I might be missing something as it looks fantastic AND it's cheap compared to the independents. Had already tried Gordon's but the Admissions lady almost laughed at me when I asked if they had any space! Is there something I don't know about RAA...is it too good to be true....??

I live just outside Woking. I agree, it is not the prettiest town, but it does have everything you could need on a day to day basis.

The villages outside Woking are lovely and most have very good primary schools.

Woking has two secondary schools - Woking High School in Woking itself and the Winston Churchill School just outside Woking.
The only reason Winston did not do very well on it's recent Ofsted was because due to an admin error there were some football coaches on site (working with children who do NOT attend the school) who had not been CRB cleared by the school.
Academically it is a good school.

Can't comment on the commute though - dh works in Reading and I work at a local Junior school as a TA.

The people here are friendly though

Dh commutes to the city from guildford. Half an hour - 40 mins. Direct trains during rush hour.

Guildford has fantastic schools. Loads of them.

Reigate is a great place to live. Not sure about state Senior schools though, although I know that Reigate Grammar is fab, although Independent.

Another one from just outside Woking. I'd say it depends on how much you've got to spend on a house and if you're after state or private (we don't have grammar schools here). Again, Woking isn't that pretty but it has good shopping, cinema, theatre that gets the good tours. A great selection of prep schools that feed into top private secondaries (but are a school bus journey away).

Houses are cheaper in Woking than Guildford with some nice out-lying villages. Plus quick commute to Waterloo.

However, if you've got a good house budget, Guildford is a lovely town with beautiful surrounding countryside and villages, and is still an OK commute (as Pagwatch says). It also has fantastic private secondaries right on its doorstep.

There is a large car park at Redhill station. Don't know the current situation but it used to be if you had an annual season ticket you could buy an annual pass for the car park but may have to wait a few months for availability. There is another long term car park 5 minutes or so walk away where there is always parking.

RAA school has a good reputation and is in great demand locally as it has fantastic sports facilities and offers an extended day. It used to have a very mixed reputation as it took a proportion of children with difficult backgrounds and had poor GCSE results. This has all changed and the most recent head has brought the results up to some of the best in the area. When looking for schools I would hesitate to make any secondary suggestions for your 2 year old as they can change such a lot. As things stand at the moment Reigate School is "outstanding" and much in demand as is St.Bedes in Redhill although is a church school so you would need to attend church nearly every week for years to get a place.

If you wish to go privately Reigate Grammer School is well regarded.

Reigate sixth form college is also "outstanding" and has beacon status. It guarantees a place to all local state school pupils at schools without sixth forms.

I agree with behindlocknumbernine. If you have a higher budget for house then look at Burpham or Merrow area of Guildford. Good primaries and George Abbot good secondary school

Dory - no, nothing wrong with RAA - it's a very good school, and as Kadinsky says, has improved loads in recent years. In fact we applied there as our 'state option' for DS for Year 7, and got a place, but he's actually going to RGS instead.
RAA still has about 10% of its students 'placed' by local authorities - usually to get them out of 'difficult' situations at home i.e. provide a more stable environment etc. There are also quite a few children of expats and MOD employees. ABout 60 of the places in Year 7 are given to 'local' families (I think the 'catchment' area is within 1.5 miles!) to attend as day/'flexi' boarders. DS wasn't too keen on the idea of the extended day (til 5.30/ 6.00 pm or later) and the Saturday morning school. He has quite a few local interests outside of school, and we felt that if he went to RAA he would have to stop these and only do music/sports/Scouts etc within the school.

I'd say Woking is your best bet (may be slightly biased having grown up there!) - as others have said it's not particularly pretty (though there are enough decent areas) and a fair handful of good schools. There are about 13 trains per hour to Waterloo at peak times from Woking so it's very good for commuting.

i went to king edward's witley a long time ago.

Just to add that if you had the choice between King Edwards and LVS, then I'd go for King Edwards. I don't know RAA. I think LVS is OK, but I have a friend who taught there for many years until recently and although she liked the school, she describes it as a "comprehensive for rich children", I don't think it's very selective and offers big bursaries for children with parents in the licensed drinks trade etc, if I were going to pay full fees for a boarding school then I'd want it to be better than just "OK" !!

I live just outside of Guildford, and that's much nicer Woking !!

Thank you for all of your advice - it is invaluable.

King Edwards is our first choice as it's much smaller then the others, but my ES will have to sit entrance exams. After 3 years in a German school, followed by 1 year at an International School, I'm not sure he's got strong enough 'basics' to get in.

Woking, or villages outside (any we should specifically avoid?), seem to be best option for us - quickest time into the City for my husband who has been spoilt with a 10 minute commute for the last 5 years!

If ES gets into RAA, then looks like Reigate, commuting from Redhill.

SO difficult when the age difference between my boys are so big - but thought it best to put my ES first and then sort out my YS once we know the area.

Realise I'm moving away from the original post of 'primary schools' but it's all one big tangle at the moment . Sorry - I'll keep on thread!

You know if you go for Woking I would stick with the walking option to the station - the Hockering and Hook Heath areas are lovely (and tres expensive!). Horsell has some nice parts too. And the Mount Hermon/South Side areas.

Woking estate agents are Foundations, Waterfalls, Seymours - amongst others. www.primelocation.com will cover these agents.

near the station!

OMG! love the galleried entrance hall