Good primary schools/areas to live within an hour of Luton

[Lornajane20]

Hi, I am a newbie to Mumsnet Talk so hoping I have posted this in the right section.

We are looking to relocate back to the UK after a long stint overseas and my DS will be going into Year 2 from September. DH's job will be in Luton but we are looking for a nice area to live within around an hour's commute, we lived up North before moving overseas so I have no idea about areas, schools etc in this location.

Our main priority is getting DS into a good school in a nice area. We may have to rent initially until we get settled but it will obviously need to be in the catchment for the schools. Any advice and tips would be much appreciated as we have never gone through the UK schools process either so it feels like a bit of a minefield! Thanks in advance :-)

St. Albans is good for schools, also harpenden. Very pricey though, depends on your budget and whether you want to be nearer London or further away. North of Luton will obviously give you much more for your money re houses. I don't know about schools though.

how much money in terms of rent and house price do you have? Critical information! How will DH commute? Car or will he need public transport?

Hitchin would fit your bill.

Harpenden has good school and is closer to Luton than St Albans. A lot depends on your budget. There is also the nightmare of getting a place.

An outstanding primary that is very close to Luton is

www.studhamschools.org.uk/

I have friend who has sent her daughter and she is really pleased with it. I have no idea what the upper and middle schools are like Dunstable. You would have to do your research.

I wouldn't base your search on schools, I would go on price and area.

Do you want a town, London commuter belt, countryside? Are you likely to be staying in the area long enough for secondary schools to be an issue?

Within an hour you could be in Northampton, Milton Keynes, Hitchin, St Albans, Watford, Rickmansworth, Harpenden etc

Agree with sunny. It is likely to be tricky finding a year 2 place so determine the area first rather than pin hopes on a specific school.

I would pick area first. It is impossible to know if you will get a place at a good school even if you live near it. Within an hour of Luton would include lots of North London. Hertfordshire generally a little more expensive than Bedfordshire. Could aim for north of Luton and get most for your money. If DH driving than tonnes of lovely villages in Beds and Herts.

Try Flamstead!!

Definitely need to know your budget for houses too. Renting or buying? St. Albans if you've got lots of money, Watford if you haven't, both have very decent schools.

Lots of nice villages around Luton - the further you go towards Harpenden and St Albans the higher the prices. Look at Wheathampstead, Redbourn, Markyate, Kensworth and others nearby. Most have good village schools.

As a resident of St Albans I have to caution you that the schools in this area are VERY over-subscribed. We didn't get any of our three choices of primary last month and many others don't get their first or second choice, so please don't move here with the intention of getting your DC into a specific school as you will almost certainly be offered something else in a location that may well not be convenient.

There are, however, lots of good towns in this area and many that have less expensive housing than St Albans and Harpenden, both of which also have a shortage of 3-bed family homes. Berkhamsted and Hitchin come to mind and there are some lovely villages too, depending on what size of place you're looking for.

Hitchin's primary schools are good but they are over-subscribed. Some kids in the town centre now get allocated places in the surrounding village schools.

Most of Bedfordshire has the three tier system, lower schools only go up to Y4, then onto middle school. Bedford itself has started going two tier though, with some middle schools closing and lower/upper schools being expanded to primary/secondary.

Berkhamsted is a great place to live and has some brilliant primary schools as well as a good secondary. House prices are expensive but if you look at Northchurch which is just outside Berko you'll find things slightly cheaper. I think Berko is a great town to bring up kids and will be fantastic when the kids are teenagers as they'll have so much on their doorstep and won't be dependent on us to drive them around!!

Thanks everyone for your responses and sorry for the delay, not logged on for a while! Greenfolder - we have only just received the offer so trying to work out what we can afford, probably around 500k if buying but we may rent initially. Sunnydayinmay - DH will have a company car so will drive to work and ideally looking for somewhere semi rural, not out in the sticks but quiet with access to shops etc. We really like Harpenden (SIL lives there) but prices are high but like the fact it has shops, restaurants, parks close by. Ideally would be good to be somewhere with good secondary too as if we do stay long term ideally wouldn't want to move again. I also have a 2 year old so may need nursery place but the area to live and school is the main priority. Will do some research on rightmove for the areas suggested. Thanks ladies