Reigate and secondary schools

[solittletime]

Hello all. I recently posted a thread about west London, as we are moving back from overseas next year and trying to do a comparison between that and Surrey.
Prior to going overseas we rented in various bits of London. Now we can't afford to buy but would like to be as near as possible.

So, knowing little of the commuter towns, we seem to have landed on Reigate. The thinking being that it could not be more than 40 mins on the train to London, therefore ruling out Horsham and Dorking.

We need a busy-ish/slightly bustling town centre, and obviously catchment to a good secondary school.

We can't afford private and there seems to be an enormous amount of private schools in Reigate?
So, the main question is - is it too much of a risk to buy in catchment of a good Reigate secondary and hope to get in? I'm assuming many opt for private if their children don't get in, but that's not an option for us.

Would you be able to advise on distance/likelihood of getting a place, and, finally, is it possible to buy a house that is walking distance to school, station and town centre?

I'd be grateful for any feedback! I tried looking for catchment area maps but can't seem to locate them on the internet.

thanks, and bump!!

Are your DC already secondary school age or will be soon?
I get this moved to Mumsnet local if I were you for a better response.

Well there are three of them ranging from lower primary to secondary! There seems to be an ok choice of primaries though?

If you Google the surrey county council website there is an information for applying to schools booklet. That has last admitted distance.,(well primary one does not checked secondary)

Thank you. I'll have another look. . If anyone has any advice on the local schools, secondary or primary, it would be mist welcome.
Are there many children who end up having to get the bus to neighbouring towns for secondary?

You can easily live in catchment of Reigate School and have easy walking to Redhill station and town centre?

Oh really! I thought Redhill was a completely separate town that you need to bus or drive to. Thanks!

Reigate commuting into London is very bad and inconsitent, my DH is getting intowork late consistently despite leaving early. Also family time is suffering in the evening because of it.

The schools are very oversubscribed - so speak to the council regarding placement and catchment. It is a nice place to live, but house prices are inflated because of it and tbh without good train service - not worth it for us. I prefer Guildford.

If you
Need reliable train then you
Want to be nearer Redhill. Reigate station has fewer trains and with the current Southern rail situation often no trains. Secondarys St Bedes - need church reference, could
Be difficult to get in year
Place. Reigate think you need to live quite close. Warwick less
Popular so more chance of a place
But is a good school. Lots of pressure for school places round here so if you are applying not at
Transfer
You will probably have to take what is available.

Is Epsom an option? You have southwest trains I think there as well as southern so could be a better commuting option.

Surrey LA operates on distance not fixed catchment areas. Reigate is nicer than Redhill to live but long term the direct train service to London is likely to decrease ( in consultation atm) . St Bedes is the school of choice but as pp mentioned most of the places are religious based. However it has recent expanded its intake and in year places do come up as it is large. Royal Alexandra and Albert is close by, a state boarding school with day pupils but strong in sport and arts. For Reigate School you probably need to live to the south of Redhill/Reigate but again less relevant for in year applications. There will be a new secondary academy opening in Merstham in next year or two which should ease pressure but may more affect Warwick School and RAAS applications initially.

Thank you. It wouldn't be in year application as we will move to start yr 6. Interesting to hear about the trains, it looks good on paper but obv not in reality!

Honestly, Reigate only has one state secondary, and it's not great. Not the worst school in the world, for sure, but I really didn't like it when I visited. Warwick school in Redhill has far worse results, but IMO a nicer feel to it as a place. Royal Alexander and Albert is a halfway house between state and private (state school, with private "day boarding"), and I think for me is the best non religious state option in the area, if you can afford the day boarding fees. Personally we opted to go private for secondary after state primary as we weren't sold on any of the state secondary choices available to us. That said St Bede's has a very good rep, but since we're not religious and hence not eligible to go there, I didn't look round, so can't give an opinion on it.

As a place to live, most of Reigate is nice, as are parts of Redhill. Commuting is best done from Redhill station rather than Reigate.