Guildford primary schools

[Lauren950]

Hello, we are soon to be moving to Guildford or the immediate Guildford area. Please can anyone advise me on some of the best primary schools in the area, thanks so much

Guildford grove primary is rated good by ofsted and the children i know who go there seem very happy. they have a range of extra curricular clubs too.

Hi, are you looking for a reception place or an in-year place ? If you plan to be in your house for some time you would be wise to consider secondary school catchments (Guildford County or George Abbot) and work backwards from there. My children did not go to Guildford primary but they are at GA, so I’m not sure if the primary schools, Names that spring to mind are Burpham, Holy Trinity, Boxgrove, Queen Eleanor’s, St Joseph’s - from a secondary location you want either Burpham/Merrow or Onslow village type areas, rather than North Guildford although it’s not clear from your post whether you have chosen your house or not yet.

Completely agree with the PP - look at secondary schools first as there are some great options and some really not so great at all options. Boxgrove and Burpham are the GA side of town; Queen Eleanor's the County side and Holy Trinity is in the middle. St Joseph's is catholic so that will feed to St Peter's (ditto St Thomas's which is very close to it).

Thank you so much for your messages, basically we are relocating from Dubai where we have been for 15 years working and had 2 children. We will move back in August then I know that from the September that will be the time I will have to put my sons name down for a primary school as he will be starting September the following year. My Dad and sister both live in Albury so we have decided to move to Guildford to be close to them. However I haven’t got a clue at all when it comes to a really lovely primary school.
The house we get in August will just be a rental for a year then hopefully we can buy our own house wherever we want.
So I know it is very important where we get the rental property now, it should be in the catchment area of the primary school we want to put my son in. Feeling a bit lost as I’ve been in Dubai for so long I don’t really have any friends in the UK now especially with children to ask their advise.
I saw on Zoopla and right move that I can see how close the schools are to the propert I want to rent. So maybe that’s a good idea to look at Burpham and Merrow.
I did try googling best primary schools in Guildford but the info seemed a bit old.
I totally understand what you mean in regards to the second school however I think once my son has already started primary school we will be in the position to buy a property so can then look to buying one in the secondary school catchment area

Most primaries in Guildford are good. Weyfield used to be the one to avoid but even that has improved recently. You can’t really go terribly wrong with the primaries. I’d echo what others have said re secondary, even though it feels a long way off if you are pretty sure you will be staying in the area, then focus on that first and work backwards.
Take your point re renting first, but if you rent for a year, get into a primary and then buy on the other side of town you are either facing a horrid school run every day for 7 years or moving your child during Reception/Yr 1 which may be tricky in terms of getting a space in the new primary (Guildford schools typically quite heavily subscribed)

So ideally you want to rent in the area you plan to live so you can secure a place in a local primary and then move up to secondary (as mentioned above, aim for George Abbot or County unless you are Catholic in which case St Peters)

Will you be working in London? If so, give some thought to getting to the station - Guildford traffic can be pretty horrendous in rush hour!

The birthrate is massively down in Guildford so you’ll be able to go pretty much wherever you want if it’s the same again next year. Previously very oversubscribed school haven’t offered all of their places or the catchment has expanded a lot.

Good primaries:
Holy Trinity Pewley Down
Boxgrove
St Nicholas Infants (then children tend to move onto Holy Trinity or Queen Eleanors)
Burpham
... As PP said you can't go too wrong and the key thing is more secondary school as there is a divide.

For secondary you want to aim for either
George Abbot
Guildford County
St Peter's (catholic)
... so as PP said look at their catchments and work backwards.

The villages around Guildford offer a lot too. Lots of village infant schools then Waverley Abbey Junior, Busbridge and The Chandler are all lovely. South Farnham is great if you want a really 'top' primary school.

It is a great area. Just plan ahead with secondary catchments is the underlining message!

Hello everyone, we have decided to now relocate to Weybridge and I just wanted to ask does anyone have any feedback on primary schools in that area, thanks so much

Hi OP, you're probably better to start a new post with Weybridge in the title as those of us who replied to the last one were (probably....) all local to Guildford so won't know much about Weybridge!