Bristol - help for newbie

[Mollusk]

We are thinking of moving to Bristol but don't know much about the various areas. A primary consideration will be proximity to a good school for our son (currently 8mos). We'd be looking for a state school, pref non-CofE. Any tips?

The first consideration would be where you/your partner will be working. Traffic in Bristol is a nightmare, and so you are best to locate yourselves on the side of the city most convenient for work. After that you need to think of what type of area you would like to be in - whether you like to be near the city centre, in the suburbs, somewhere in between. A multi-cultural area, a bohemian area, a modern housing estate full of young families and easily accessible amenities, in an outlying village/town etc. There are plenty of good primary schools in and around Bristol, if you plan to be here for the long term, you may want to think about secondary schools though, as the good ones are less readily available!

Agree with the above poster - what type of area are you looking for? What is your budget (house prices are increasing rapidly in Bristol) ? What type of house would you like - in some areas of the city it's mainly very large houses divided into flats, in others it's terraced housing with no off-street parking, would you like a garden or parking? Would you mind living in an area where there a lots of students? Transport is an issue as the roads can be very congested and public transport is expensive. Car parking is also an issue as many houses do not have off street parking.
Most primary schools in Bristol are non C of E, so that shouldn't be a problem. The number of good and outstanding primary schools is also increasing which is good news.

Agree with poster above about secondary schools being a top consideration in terms of area. In Bristol there are lots of good primary schools but a real issue with secondaries. We moved outside Bristol because of this as the best secondary schools (other than Redland Green and some of the Academies) are outside Bristol.

Plenty of nice places to live in Bristol and its a brilliant city but yes, parking and traffic and schools can all be quite tricky so lots to think about!

Bristol is a vast and large city.

Try and live the same side of river as you work as traffic is a nightmare.

Bristol and surrounding areas is 4 different counties and education admissions.

Don't be put off by c of e lots primaries voluntary controlled so same as any other community school es under lea control so their admissions based on distance not faith.

The best schools can have tiny catchments.

what sort of things you looking for in an area?

If your son was 8 years old would agree with other posters about secondary schools. A lot can change in 10 years though!
10 years ago Redland Green school (very popular high achieving secondary school) wasn't even built. I wouldn't have predicted that 2 independent schools (Bristol Cathedral choir school) and Colston's Girls school would become academies. Bristol Free school (secondary) has now been open for 2 years and there are other free schools in the pipeline.

Thanks all - and yes, I realise it was probably a stupidly broad question! We've got a smallish budget but will need 3 bedrooms and ideally a garden - the point of moving out of London is to get some quality of life without having to sell your firstborn to pay for it. We're both in media, so I guess the first stop is to see where potential employers are and then look at where to live. So much to think about...

34DD - wow, thank you. That is super helpful. Looks like we'll be avoiding Clifton then!