Where to live in Sheffield

[CCGGREENIE]

Hi,

I am not from Sheffield and I am planning on buying a house here with my boyfriend. However, due to neither of us being from here we are not sure as to which are the best areas. This will be our first house so we are looking at houses in the region of £200,000 to £250,000. We know we like quite a few areas near the peaks side of Sheffield but not as keen on places like Woodhouse. I was wondering if anyone who knows the area could give me some suggestions. I want to make sure I am buying something in a reasonably nice place but I know the peaks side can be quite expensive.

I will really appreciate any responses. Thankyou in advance.

thanks Sheffiledddd I'm not keen on 'rutalish' but will have a olok on rightmove.

acquiescence so is Hillsborough ok? I jad mu own similar thread and it was bashed by the posters . I actually viewed a house there near the park - nice house, the shopping centre 'uninspiring' but do yo uthink it might be up and coming? Now the stadium is off action, but is it really bad when football is on - posters on my thread said it was bad.
More affordable than Walkley though - where the prices have gone crazy for those narrow terraces, I see some are being reduced now but only by 5K!

sorry, 'ruralish'

Meadowhead is not grim - that's fighting talk

Avoid: Meersbrook and Heeley (cheaper and some quirky shops but awful schools and high crime.)
Woodseats (trashy and very busy traffic.)
Upperthorpe (VERY high crime)

And Parson Cross, anywhere near the Northern General and The Manor. Chapeltown is fine. It also has a railway station.

I think people assume houses to be dirt cheap but some areas of sheffield are expensive

Yep. We moved from Leeds, and thought that Sheffield would be much cheaper. The areas that were cheaper were places we didn’t want to live in.

Kelham island is mostly flats but buzzing and brilliant for young professionals.

Hillsborough/Loxley looks a bit rough but is not a bad place to live and also not far from Bradfield a gorgeous little village.

I love the vibe in the Kelham Island area.

Bradfield is very pretty but can feel cut off.

@acquiescence sums it up well.

The Steel factories developed in the Don Valley and the prevailing winds blew the fumes in a northerly direction. So the magnates started to live and build in the south/southwest of the city and it has been thus divided ever since!

I can recommend meersbrook. Newfield is a rapidly improving secondary. It's where my kids will go.

Meersbrook....Social issues? I am one of those relocated Londoner (central london) and I have no concerns, comparatively speaking. Nice neighbours. Nice parks. Allotments galore. Good shops. I love being able to walk go netheredge. Easy to get to Peaks and city centre. Decent primaries.

We went for this area as we have friends this way and is more affordable but I know s10 and s11 are very popular and I enjoy heading over to those areas for walks and shopping.

Fyi. I probably wouldn't do Hillsborough. I work that way and it has got a more insular local feel...

Apologies for typo. Yes Heeley!!!

I have friends there and I’m a very frequent visitor. Which secondary schools are crap? At least name them. And which primaries? The two schools I mentioned are certainly more than ok. Newfield had a poor reputation but it doesn’t now. So what is the crap secondary dc have to go to?

There is nothing wrong with these areas if you cannot afford better elsewhere. Yes, there are better secondary schools but these areas cost more too. King Ecbert takes Newfield DC for 6th form. Buy KE has a more expensive catchment area.

Aaaah! Spelt Ecgbert incorrectly too - before someone has a go at me!!!

Guymere - There's nothing wrong with any area based on what you can afford, but being able to afford Meersbrook doesn't make it one of the best area's in Sheffield. You could get a house very cheap in Page Hall..

Newfield school has 'rapidly improving' on it's website, but that's because it was doing so badly it was absorbed by the Mercia trust which has brought a bit of structure and leadership.

It doesn't have a sixth-form, pupils can go to Kind's Ecbert's if they meet the requirements. I wouldn't say that's the mark of a good school.

Some results:
Pupils achieving Grade 5 or above in English and Maths

School 2017 38% 2018 39% 2019 35%

England state-funded schools 2017 43% 2018 43% 2019 43%

It's not great, is it?

But to be fair, I'm comparing with Silverdale, which the Sunday Times ranked as one of the best secondary schools in the North (and is the best in Sheffield IMO), and High storrs, which is close behind and teaches classics and latin! Tapton is also excellent. Kind Ecgberts and King Edward's are behind the above, but still very good.

Penistone has a great secondary school and there are school busses runging there from all the north west of Sheffield, (Chapeltown, High Green, Stocksbridge (wouldn't buy there) Deepcar or closer into Sheffield Middlewood or Grenoside. As with everywhere there are good and less good within the postcode but you will get a lot more house for your money than in the South West.

I lived in Chapeltown / Burncross for 30 years. The kids still call it home and we never had any problem with crime or antisocial behaviour. You can get a 3 or 4 bed detached for your budget in the area. Old or new - try searching on S35

I live in Sheffield try Penistone, Thurgoland, Wortley, Oxspring, Cawthorne or Silkstone - all small towns/villages but all have great schools x

And all of the primary schools in the catchment area for Penistone Grammar Schoo (grammar in name only) are good or outstanding. Penistone is lovely, but if you want city life you might find it a bit cut off.

Really recommend S11 or S10. I went to Silverdale 🥳

I'd suggest looking at Nether Green, lovely characterful area not far from the peak district. Your budget would cover a 1900s terrace. If you're looking for a larger home try Crookes or Walkley. The other side of the city is much cheaper though

Nether Edge is another option. However if schools are a consideration they weren't looking great when I last looked

I would be worried about Silverdale being one of the best schools in the North. I actually live in a grammar school county. With all higher attaining DC in the grammar schools, we have several Secondary Modern schools that are very close to Silverdale and King Ecgbert in attainment and progress. It’s really not very high flying for a comprehensive. Our secondary moderns must be stonking by comparison as they have no high flyers at all! But.... where I live is more expensive than Sheffield and has larger numbers of higher achieving DC overall. Like most of educational “choice” money buys you a better catchment area. If you don’t have that money you have to take second best.

Newfield compares with our average secondary moderns but that doesn’t mean it’s not a decent school. It really shouldn’t have a 6th form because it wouldn’t be sustainable but DC can achieve well elsewhere and have a choice of schools they can attend. I don’t see it all as doom and gloom. Bright motivated DC can, and do, achieve well there. There are though plenty of DC in that area who are not academic and that’s why they don’t get top results. I suspect high flying parents are a bit thin on the ground.

So Silverdale is an underwhelming crap school, (highest A level results in Sheffield, Times top 10 in Yorkshire) and Newfield (Newfield!) is a decent school?

Riiiiiight.

You don't live in Sheffield, you live in a much more expensive area but are completely clued up on the bright, motivated DC who can and do achieve at Newfield?

I’m actually saying neither are that good! Sheffield results overall are not great though are they? Quite a long way behind where I live on every bit of data. Why are the best secondary moderns where I live getting about the same GCSE passes and progress as your best comprehensives? Or more to the point for anyone moving to Sheffield, why don’t your DC do better in the schools?

Well I went to Sheffield schools and I did very well (doctor), as did my siblings. Most of my friends did well, medical school, law, oxbridge, but we went to one of the schools I mentioned above. The good schools in Sheffield do very well, you can't really compare grammar schools that actively weed out lower achieving children with non grammar who take everyone. You've made these comparisons without saying which area/schools you are comparing to, which is a bit silly really.

Also, if you don't live in Sheffield I'm not sure why you are advising someone to move to meersbrook. You literally said this:

*Not sure the info on Healey and Meersbrook is up to date. These are now popular family areas and schools are certainly ok. Carfield Primary is greatly improved and Newfield secondary is so much better than 10 years ago. It’s a slightly bohemian area but it’s a lot cheaper than the leafy suburbs.

I would go and have a look rather than relying on out of touch info on here.*

You don't even live in Sheffield! And yet you are advising someone that Meersbrook/Heeley is one of the best areas in Sheffield, and any opinion to the contrary is 'out of date'?! What on earth are you basing all this on?

I live in Sheffield S8 and have had some involvement in the education sector locally. Sheffield is very polarised, there are some very affluent areas, some very tough areas, and some areas in between (most of S8). I'd suggest you have a drive around where you could afford and see how it feels. There are some perfectly alright areas that get sneered at by some on MN, but really are fine if you can't afford to live in the 'best' parts of town.

Meadowhead is not grim - that's fighting talk

That's made me laugh

At no point did I say these areas were the best in Sheffield. I’m not saying exactly where I live but the attainment of DC is much higher here. I suspect far more go to Oxbridge and other high class universities. The A level stats don’t lie. I’m unsure why, as a highly educated individual, you cannot look at grammar Shire county stats (there are just a handful) and then look at Sheffield stats and see the difference.

At no point have I compared Sheffield comps to our grammars. Obviously the attainment at the grammars is overall very high and all are outstanding here. I have clearly said “secondary moderns”. This meansNONE of the DC in these schools is attending a grammar school. So the top 20/30% in each area is missing in the secondary moderns. Your comps are pretty close to the best of these at GCSEs. It’s clear that Sheffield has better schools in some areas but it’s clearly based on parental attainment and the fact that more people like you choose, and can afford, to live in the more expensive areas with the better schools. It’s like that everywhere. However IF someone isn’t a well paid Dr or a very intelligent university lecturer, they might just have to look at the second division of neighbourhoods and schools. Just as they do here! It’s not fair to say some areas are crime ridden and have useless schools when you earn the £££ and escape from them. Others have to go to these schools and I was suggesting these areas based on pp not affording expensive areas but wanting to live in Sheffield itself - not an enclave with a Sheffield postcode.

DH lived in Sheffield. My DC didn’t attend grammar schools. Anyway - as you say - I know nothing!