London to Exeter

[marateach]

I have lived in NW London suburbs for most of my life but am thinking of moving to Exeter. House prices are so much cheaper and as a teacher, it is fairly easy to relocate & find a new job. I went to uni there ten years ago so do have some knowledge of the area but I wondered if anyone had any advice or information I should know before moving! I don’t have kids at the moment.

Bump 🤞🏼

We did a similar move, not to Exeter, but from London to the SW. I also teach.

Lifestyle wise, it's been brilliant. We love it here. There is less cultural stuff to do, obviously. But loads of outdoor things and that works well for us. Exeter would be a good place to bring up kids I think.

Job wise, it might not be as easy as you think to find a job, and the fact there are fewer schools means you might end up with a longer commute. What do you teach? If primary, you might find yourself looking at lots of slightly rural schools with mixed classes. I also found that the schools I worked at in London we're very 'on it'. Up to date methodology, high tech resources, and forward thinking. The schools I've encountered over in the SW whilst just as good in many respects have been quite different to work at. It took a bit of getting used to!

I've heard jobs are not as easy at all to get in South West so you may want to do some research..

Thank you. I do teach primary but last year moved to a private school so would probably be looking for the same.
My commute is currently half an hour and I wouldn’t want it to be much longer than that (based on past experience) so definitely something to look at.

Private school jobs are v few and far between. I teach in one two. People never leave!

I don't know how much it's changed in 10 years since you were in Exeter but I moved here a few years ago. I wouldn't recommend it. Very high homeless population for the size of the city, shopping not great, roads are shocking, council approving new student flats every day, transport abysmal.
Positives are the lovely quay and canal, having beaches and Dartmoor nearby, lots of restaurants.
House prices are high for what you get (and everywhere will be cheap compared to London!).
Come for a week and stay in an Airbnb, get a look at it in reality as it's a lot different when all you remember is student nightspots 😊