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Surrey primary schools

10 replies

DMrob · 25/08/2026 03:40

Can anyone recommend a good primary school in the surrey area for my son, we currently live abroad but are moving back to the uk so it will be an in year application, my son is will be starting year 6. Any advise will be great I’m a bit nervous.

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MrsMabelThorpe · 25/08/2026 06:28

Secondary school admission deadline is October for September 2027, so don't worry about primary, move somewhere you will get into a secondary you like and then apply to the local primaries.

Will you be commuting regularly to London, that will help narrow down where you want to be? And what is your budget, further north nearer the London borders will be more expensive for that reason.

There aren't grammars in Surrey proper (only in the London boroughs of Kingston and Sutton) - I think you have missed the registration dates for the tests so do not get distracted by these.

I like Guildford, County and George Abbot are good for example and it is on a good train line if that matters.

Fifthtimelucky · 25/08/2026 06:58

I agree with the above.

Are you a Catholic? If so, you will have a wider choice of schools. Most of the best performing (state) secondary schools in Surrey are Catholic.

Buscobel · 25/08/2026 09:41

Surrey is a large county, so it depends which part of it you plan to move to.

LIZS · 25/08/2026 10:00

It will depend on a school having a space in year 6. The more popular ones may not. Surrey LA should be able to identify those that do.

DMrob · 25/08/2026 10:08

I didn’t even think about the deadline for secondary school (now I’m even more worried!). I’ve been out of the loop with the UK school system, and it completely slipped my mind. I’m originally from the Walton/Weybridge area, so that would be my safety-net area, but we’re quite fluid with our decision. We won’t be committing to anything, so that’s not an issue.
I had contacted Surrey LA and they told me of a few schools that had places available, my sights were in the direction of Cleves school in Weybridge but I’m not sure on our chances of getting in and understand they deal with admission themselves.

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DMrob · 25/08/2026 10:12

We potentially won’t be immigrating back until after Christmas what would be peoples opinion/advise on dealing with the secondary school deadline?

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MrsMabelThorpe · 25/08/2026 10:45

Ok so if you are thinking Walton or Weybridge, there are the two Heathside schools (Three Rivers in Hersham does not have a great reputation but that might be unfair. It is the old Rydens in a great new building.)

There is a section on the Surrey schools admissions website on applying from abroad. Do you have an address in Surrey - it also gives details of the evidence you need to supply esp if you don't have a property, and says you should still apply by 31st October.

If you move before 8 December then you could update your address and still be on time application. Otherwise will be a late application so dealt with after the ontime applications, thereafter you will be on waiting lists (which are kept in order of the admissions criteria for each school, not when you applied).

So a couple of things really:
Read the Surrey admissions website so you understand process and dates, and follow this
Read each secondary's admissions criteria and allocations of places in previous years (also on Surrey website) to understand what actually happens - eg if they fill all their places from feeder school pupils
Move as soon as you can, and if distance is a criteria, as close as you can to preferred school
Cross your fingers and hope for March, and thereafter that waiting lists move in your favour.

You WILL get a Surrey secondary school place somewhere. The stats show that last year, the undersubscribed schools were Three Rivers, Epsom & Ewell, Ash Manor, Christ's College, Kings College, The Priory, Therfield, The Beacon, Carrington, Merstham Park, Oakwood, Magna Carta, Sunbury Manor, Thomas Knyvett - all made offers to late applications or centrally offered (ie wasn't listed as a preference). They might not be your ideal schools but your child would have a place and can go on waiting lists elsewhere.

DMrob · 25/08/2026 12:17

Honestly thank you so much, really helpful and making me feel a little at ease about it, I will be moving back in with parents at first so I could use there address initially to prove a base before we find our own home am I correct?

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LadyLapsang · 25/08/2026 18:25

If you are living with your parents and don’t have another home elsewhere, yes. Remember Surrey is splitting in two on 1st April 2027, this has implications for which LA is responsible for offering your DC a place. I would try to move back before the secondary application deadline.

ScepticalWithoutProof · 26/08/2026 10:04

If you're going to be at your parents' in Walton/Weybridge after Christmas, I'd just work from there rather than trying to pick a primary for the whole of Surrey. Year 6 in-year is a funny one – it's really about who actually has a space and whether they can settle him after a move, not finding the "best" school on paper. Cleves is well thought of locally so it may already be full, but it's worth asking them and a couple of others with spaces if you can pop in, even on a flying visit. How they talk about kids joining mid-year tells you more than the website.

The secondary deadline is the bit I wouldn't leave hanging. If you're genuinely living at your parents' you can apply from that address by 31 Oct and it takes a lot of the panic out of it. Primary is only one year at this point, so a school that's a bit closer and a more doable morning from theirs is no disaster. Moving countries with a Y6 is tiring enough without a long drive every day.

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