Where in London

[Bemoreme21]

I want to move to London from Brighton for secondary school for my DC. The primary schools here are fantastic but i'm not comfortable with the lottery system for secondary. We could live right next to our catchment schools (Varndean and Dorothy Stringer) and not get in!

Also all of my family and friends live in the north and west of London. DC are 9 and 6 yrs old so we have some time. Where in London would have a similar family friendly vibe? It doesn't have to be very central so outer zones are fine. I moved away from Ealing 15 years ago and i'm not particularly keen to go back there. I've been looking at south west London so Hampton, Teddington, Kingston, Surbiton. Also north west so Pinner, Hatch end. Any advice re good schools and safe areas would be gratefully received.

A budget would help...

In SW London, Teddington and Twickenham are good for schools, New Malden as well. North Kingston is a popular family area with a new secondary school that hasn’t had GCSEs yet. I wouldn’t choose Hampton or Surbiton if you’re after top schools. Slightly further east there’s Cheam and Sutton with fab schools and v family-orientated. If you fancy trying for grammars, then the borough of Kingston has two and Sutton has five.

That’s where you can look at crime stats:

www.met.police.uk/sd/stats-and-data/met/crime-data-dashboard/

And these are school stats. Each borough is a LA so easy to get an overview of where the best schools are.

www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/compare-schools

@Smallgoon Budget is around 650k for a 3 bed house.

@JoJoSM2 That's really helpful thanks. Will look at those stats

We really enjoyed living in Teddington. Trains into Waterloo, big parkland spaces, long walks along the river, shops in Kingston and Richmond. Decent selection of schools.
Quick and easy access out of London towards the south coast and SW when you need some extra air

Given the budget, I’d recommend looking further from the river as it gets cheaper. New Malden might work. Cheam and Sutton are definitely doable for a 3-bed in a desirable area (near Cheam Village or in S Sutton or between Sutton town centre and Cheam Village).

@scentedgeranium Do you think Teddington is achievable with a 650k budget for a house? Also do your DC go to a local school?

I said we used to live there (in fact now we now live 300 miles away!). I think I crossed posts with the budget post. And yes. We would have sent to Teddington school where many of our friends sent their children. And our children ended up in a comp I’m out new location. So no problems with state education in Teddington.

Teddington School ‘requires improvement’ but Touring House is a new free school and it’s popular + you could try for the Kingston grammars. For the budget, I can see there’s an ex-council house on Cromwell Rd and another modern one on Atbara Rd. If you’re ok with that sort of housing, then they’re in brilliant locations close to the station, Bushey Park, the river and the naice bit of Teddington High St.

Ah we're talking a decade ago when we left the area so I haven't kept up with Teddington School's inspections. Tiffin is great but get started with tuition early! When we visited in Y5 there were already contemporaries of DS who'd been having tuition for a year. And Kingston Grammar is of course fee paying.
We lived in one of those streets near the station and a stone's throw from the Park. It was lovely.
Turing House had just opened when we left.

Muswell Hill and Crouch End - excellent state primary and secondary schools, and lots of green spaces. But I only mention it because you don't say what the budget is.

@Bouledeneige Budget is 650k for a 3 bed so i don't think Muswell Hill is going to work. I do love it there though. I saw Kingston being mentioned on another thread and also like it there. I'm having a serious wobble because Brighton seems so much nicer than most of the areas i've been looking at. I went to Harrow and Ruislip on Saturday to look around and it just seems so dull compared with where we live.

If you’d consider North East, then would go visit North Chingford (the area around the Overground station) or Highams Park (a stop south). Really lovely community feel, near Epping Forest and feels safe and family friendly, but also a few stops to Hackney or Central London on overground, or can hop on the Victoria line at Walthamstow Central. So good mix of both more London feel and something a bit more chilled. You’d get something fairly decent for 650k, though prices have continued to increase as people move out from Hackney, Walthamstow etc to get family houses.

Should add that these areas are in reach for grammar secondaries in Enfield and Redbridge. You may want to consider nearby Woodford as well. State comp secondaries are mixed bag but generally good (Particularly the one in Highams Park)

Sidcup is also good with loads of grammar schools and house price within that budget

I think if you're looking for a Brighton vibe it will be difficult on that budget. Walthamstow and Leyton might have something in that price range but I'm not sure the schools will be better than the Brighton ones. Only other option is to move further out but then you're in suburbia which will be safer and green but not very dynamic.

In Teddington you may find yourself under a flightpath. Not so evident at the moment.

Teddington isn’t too bad for plane noise. Not quiet but not nearly as bad as places like Richmond.

OP, if you need a lot of buzz, maybe compromise on the property? You should be able to get a 3-bed flat in a buzzy area in inner London.

@JoJoSM2 I don't mind a flat at all if it has a small garden. I think my main priority needs to be good secondary schools and somewhere safe. I've been following a couple of other threads and i think it's naive to think i can get the above and a buzzy feel for my budget. I'm not in a rush so i have time to go and visit individual areas.

Pinner is quite nice - v suburban feel. But surrounded by less nice areas. Don’t know about the schools. Teddington is a nice location but travel into C London is a PITA. Schools all pretty good. But your budget won’t go very far there.

Teddington school is awful at the moment and Turing House is moving location to Whitton in the next two years

@mollscroll I think all of the schools in Pinner are very good. It feels so dull to me but travel into London is really good. I think surburbia is going to be the way forward!

If a flat is ok there are lovely big flats in or near crystal palace for that budget which has an indie vibe. You'd just get a house down the hill in penge for that but if you have boys secondary options a bit more limited then (penge is gentrifying quite fast).

Easy access to brighton via croydon or north london on the thameslink from penge.

@Breadandroses1 - love crystal palace - where would you recommend for schools etc?

Barnet and Whetstone are nice. Good secondary schools - Totteridge Academy, East Barnet, Wren, Compton. Also the northern line is really useful for getting in to town quickly.

Mine are younger so bad person to ask but popular local schools include Kingsdale (although this is a lottery), Sydenham (girls), The Norwood School and Eden Park although I think EP is now very popular due to the extended day. There are a few Harris schools as well if you like that sort of thing.