Guildford primary school allocations

[Beckymac86]

Hi, we are thinking of moving to Guildford and will be based in town centre (DH needs to walk to train station). I’m about to call schools but does anyone know what the 23/24 school intake was like? We’re all places allocated? Which are the best in town primaries? I can see sandfield and pewley are likely to be our closest school what are the chances of getting a place there? We currently have our first choice place at a Catholic school in Wimbledon which we love but we need to move and cost of property around here is just 😵‍💫 thanks in advance!

You can see how places for September 2023 were allocated here:
https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools/admissions/arrangements-and-outcomes/previous-years

I don’t know the schools in Guildford so can’t advise on that.

Thanks for the link couldn’t find it for 23/24 but can now see that there are places left at st Thomas. We are practicing Catholics and I’ve rung the school and should be able to get a place. Does anyone have feedback on st Thomas and also on commuting to school and back if we lived in town centre? Thanks!

I don't have connections with the school, but I will say that Guildford Town Centre is not fun to cross at busy times. It would take me about 15 mins to walk from the Mandolay Hotel to the main train station, which at rush hour would be quicker than driving.

Where are you thinking of living? If it is the town side of the station then the commute would be fine - there is a bus line that runs down the A25. If you are thinking of Park Barn or near the cathedral then the commute is likely to be a bit of a pain.

Thanks for the reply. We we’re thinking literally in town so anywhere south of Gardner road, down to pewley hill/Charlottesville area

That really is the middle of town! You will be competing with the University students in that area but the whole area is very walkable. You will get very used to walking uphill as the whole area is on a slope.

I would have a think about where and how you will get your food shopping done. The Sainsburys in town doesn't have a big range of items so, if you are going into the shops and not having it delivered, you might want to head towards Ladymead where there is a Lidl (or Aldi). If you are not tied to Guildford town centre then you will get more green space further out. Stoke Park has a great Lido, spash area for kids, playground and hosts park runs.

I would avoid Slyfield Green due to the smell from the abatoir (just to point it out, I know that it is outside of your search area).

St Thomas has a great reputation, particularly strong on music I've heard and very good with SEN.

Hello, welcome to Guildford! An increasing number of people pick the Catholic primaries as I think they feed directly into St Peter's Catholic secondary which is very well thought of, so it might be worth checking if that is true. Although, if your kids are baptised Catholic you may qualify for a place anyway! (Pretty much all the primary schools in Guildford are good, but there is quite a lot of competition over secondary places.) I live in Guildford town centre and walk kids to school but there's a fair few families that drive. I think it is a headache and parking can be a pain but plenty seem to think it's worth it, it is probably quite time consuming though and I'm not sure how it fits around work commitments

There's also usually quite a lot of movement over the summer as people move or get their first choice allocation/go private, so you can accept a place and sit on waiting lists for other schools and see if your preference comes up in the meantime. Good luck with your move, we've been really happy here 😊

@Beckymac86 let me know if you managed to get a space in St Thomas Nd how it is....