If you could live anywhere in the UK outside London....

[Monkeybutts]

If you could live anywhere in the UK outside London....where would you go to find an affordable family home near good schools (primary and secondary)?

We are returning to the UK from living abroad. No plans yet for where we will work and no need to be totally close to friends and family. So the whole UK is our oyster...highest priority is great schooling!

Any thoughts?

Watching with interest!

South Manchester

Do you want to be in a grammar school area? If so Warwickshire.

Yorkshire

York. Yorkshire. Hmmm.

Alton, Hampshire
Or
Winchester, Hampshire

Cornwall

Windsor

What's your definition of affordable? I'd discount some of the options listed on grounds of cost.

Good question. Definitely not London prices and we can't imagine doing the London thing ever again. I guess affordable in the sense of we are 2 full time working parents in non-executive, mid career jobs in technology (not likely to advance much further without high level degrees) -- without a ton of savings but also very little debt. We haven't lived in the UK for a while but I guess a budget of $400k would be high for us and we'd hope for a 3 bed family home. AIBU?

I would also say Hampshire. Or West Sussex? Tons of nice schools, lots of country villages or towns with good facilities, near the sea. Good place to grow up.

Gloucestershire. Grammar school area plus lots of private schools and good state secondaries. Bristol and Birmingham less than an hour away. Cardiff and London not much further. Forest of dean and cotswolds on the doorstep but all the perks of living with a city and very large town. Pretty much any shop/ restaurant you would want is in either Gloucester or Cheltenham.
Plenty of history too with Gloucester cathedral and tewkesbury etc.

I'd agree with Vanessa. Lots of affordable houses in neighbouring Herefordshire too, some great schools and colleges, and very easy on the eye.
Scotland's central belt is also worth considering. if you'd like a combination of countryside and accessibility to larger urban areas. Much more affordable than say Windsor or Sussex, but not at the expense of having to live in an eyesore. East Renfrewshire schools in particular are often recommended on MN.

I'm originally from Hereford and wouldn't recommend it: it's pretty and unspoilt but very Brexity in most areas and not very welcoming.

I live in a North Oxfordshire village and love it. State comprehensive schools are good/outstanding at primary and secondary level. It's beautiful, and a stone's throw from an amazing city. London is 45 mins on the train.

I third Hampshire. It's lovely here.

Lots of lovely villages (like mine) with great schools and good access into London and airports.

We live about 15 mins from Winchester, Hampshire and about 10 mins from Alton, Hampshire as Redpostbox suggested

...and it's very welcoming and Remainer territory!

Scotland. Good schools without the English madness re catchment areas, affordable and chance of remaining in/rejoining EU after Indyref2. Lots of great culture in Glasgow/Edinburgh.

Harrogate

Haha sorry OP didn't mean to make this a Brexit issue!

Southend will be affordable for you.

Education not great in the main unless you can get them into the grammars. If you think you can you’ll find it affordable and an easy commune into the City (but not the rest of London) if that’s where work is best for you.

Glasgow South Side - East Renfrewshire - fab schools.

You have to take in to account that offer over in Scotland genuinely means just that but £395k in the above area:
Poplar Avenue, Newton Mearns, Glasgow, G77
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-62810814.html

If you're honestly prioritising education and housing costs and have included the whole of the uk, NI is the best solution.

I don't know anyone here who pays for private schooling because it just isn't necessary. I don't even know how close the nearest private school is from here, there are so few. Every area is a grammar school area and approx 1/3(?) of kids get into them.

House prices here are so much lower than the rest of the UK. Wages are lower too, but by nowhere here the same ratio.

Edinburgh

Ohhh Hertfordshire is nice

Windsor is expensive, posh but nice
North Yorkshire ( Harrogate / knaresborough area is nice)

I also quite like haworth (village near Bradford with a cool apothecary and good fish and chips shop)

I once drove through north Wales on the way to the ferry. Beautiful countryside but not sure what it's like to live there.

Cornwall and Somerset is also nice