Relocating from USA to surrey

[luced08]

Hi
Looking for any guidance on an impending move my husband and I maybe choosing to make. We are 2 Brit's, lived in the USA for 16years, with 2 kids born and raised in the US (10 & 12)
Looking for a new adventure and return to some familiarity and normalcy, after living in California.

We'd be looking at relocating in surrey, around the Cobham/ esher / weybridge area with a decent budget (for 4bed detached house) and the kids at ACS Cobham incoming 5th and 7th grader - as it seems like state schools are extremely hard to get into Vs private.
Like the idea of being close to the big city but living in a smaller suburb that offers family life and community. Coming from California, we're over the politics and "keeping up with the joneses" style of living. Our work will allow work from home, so train line doesn't have to be for a daily commute, but ideally easy enough to be able to get into London frequently.

If you have experience / knowledge in the areas above, we'd love some guidance as neither of us are from the London area.
What are the families / kids like at ACS? We think this would be a fair transition for our kids who are in the US school system.
Are the areas above typical places families live who attend ACS, are there other areas we should consider?

We are visiting for a week at Easter (over spring break) and want to cram as much in as we can before we make a final decision on the move.. as it's a big one! If we go for it, we'd like to be relocated by aug/ sept ready for the next school year.

Any help and honest feedback will be much appreciated thanks!!

Cobham, Weybridge and Esher are all very nice areas. Great for families.

Cobham and Weybridge, in my opinion, have a bit more of a Surrey village feel. Esher has a bit more Cosmopolitan, suburb of London feel.

Children going to ACS travel in from quite a wide area so I don't think there are really pockets of ACS families.

What is your budget though?

Up to £2.5m .. closer to 2 would be preferable 👍🏼

Thanks!! Am i right in thinking it's extremely competitive to get into state schools depending on the location of your house?
Very used to automatically going to the school your house is in the boundary for here and that being what happens.

I would go for Cobham, absolutely love that area.

Thanks!! Could you tell me what you like about it? I hear it's lovely but don't know what the draw is ..

You'll want to think about what school system you want your kids to follow. US, IB or GCSE/A-levels

You've mentioned ACS but you have also mentioned state schools so I'm not sure which you want

ACS offers US and IB. State schools will offer GCSE/Alevels.

If you live in KT7(Thames Ditton) KT8 (Molesey) or KT10 (Esher) you will automatically get a place at Esher college for 6th form if that's something you want to consider.

There isn't a whole lot to separate the areas you are looking at tbh. People will say all sorts but in reality they are very similar. Similar people. Similar housing stock.

Perfect.. thanks for the info! I guess we're undecided as to put them in ACS and keep their academics the same should we ever return to the US (we're dual citizenship) OR integrate them into English schooling and be amongst the families that live close.
We are touring ACS when we visit but unfortunately because it's Easter, the state schools are closed.
Really appreciate all the things to think about because it's not as simple as .. we're moving to the uk 🤣

ACS (as you might infer from the name) is an American school mostly with American/international students. They offer the IB or AP curriculum rather than UK qualifications. The school is (or was, when I had experience of it 15 years ago) quite transitory - there is a lot of movement in and out as families tend to be ex-pats not permanent residents.

I would also look at other private schools in the area to compare with a more traditionally UK experience. Which school will depend on your kids - are they particularly academic, sporty etc?

I have actually lived in all 3 of your considered areas. Esher feels more "Londony" and I personally found it less friendly of a community than Weybridge or Cobham. Cobham is a nice area but it has got a particular vibe to it - hard to explain but it didn't gel for us. Weybridge has loads of families and we were very happy there. You will probably get a little more space for your money but location is important. Feel free to PM me with more questions.

We live London Surrey borders - moved out just before we had our DS. All those areas are nice

My DD went to ACS Cobham and did the IB. The school has fantastic facilities, and DD got a reasonable education there, but I think no better than one of the good state schools in the area. The fees at ACS are astronomical, and as well as the American expat community, it is stuffed (particularly the boarding house) with rich Russian and Kazakh kids, also a lot of Spanish. We lived in central London and DD boarded. Her friends in the area lived in Cobham, Esher, Weybridge, Guildford, often in large houses in gated communities. I would look at the other local private schools for your kids - there are a lot, reputations are mixed, and you have everything from academic hot houses to nurturing schools for the less academic. Good luck! I will say that living in Central London, we had hordes of Surrey kids staying with us at the weekends to go clubbing/gigs/cinema/shopping as DD got older.

Those areas are lovely - but busy, hard to find parking etc. I'd look at the smaller "villages" in amongst them - so Thames Ditton, Claygate or Oxshott (though Oxshott village is a bit of a drive through) too.

State secondaries that are good are Hesthside, Hinchley Wood, Esher High. I'm sure there are others too.

Good luck with your move!

What ages will your DDs be on 1 Sep 2024?

Thank you so much i definitely will take you up on that!

Hi! They will be 10 and 12

Thank you so much exactly what we need to consider!
What would be your otegr recommendations for private schools and or the state schools for a 10 and 12 yr old?

Ok. Then when you arrive, your younger DD will be starting year 6, which is the last year of primary school. The address you would use for a secondary school application is the one you live at on 31/10/24. So if you want your younger DD to go to a state secondary, you need to pick your location to live with that in mind.

Your older DD will be starting year 8, which is the second year of secondary. She would be given a place in state secondary but not necessarily the nearest one to you.

If you want to go private (not sure about ACS but certainly for eg St George’s Weybridge, your younger DD would need to sit the 11+ within 2-3 months of starting year 6.

I think you really need to decide which system you want. Specifically AP, IB or A-levels. If you are realistically likely to return to the US at some point whilst they are still at school it probably makes sense to stay with the same system. Otherwise they'll be swapping here then swapping back and that's not great. Moving is enough upheaval without completely different systems of education. If they were younger it wouldn't matter so much but ending up doing GCSEs and then going back into APs is just crazy.

You need to focus on elimination. What are your priorities. Otherwise you will be considering too many options many of which will end up not being suitable anyway.

Private: Claremont Fan, St George's are both co-Ed. I'm not sure if you said girls or boys

Coming from California, we're over the politics and "keeping up with the joneses" style of living.

Surrey is rife with the above!

Thank you! You are absolutely right!it'll get overwhelming v quick!
We have a son (10) and daughter (12).
We have so many things to consider for sure- this is a great starting point for us to start talking about!

So first school system. Then if you decide UK do you want them at the same school or are you ok with single sex schools.
These questions will narrow down your options helpfully

So your dc1 would be going into 8 in September and will have missed secondary transfer age . That means for a state secondary school it would be an in-year application and very dependant on which school had a vacancy at the time, most likely one of the less popular ones and possibly not that local unless you get very lucky, Likewise for a year 6 place at a state primary school place for dc2. it also means that they would attend different schools unless you go private to one with a junior(or prep) and senior. The ACS schools are a good choice for international families but you may find largely a transient population of expats, so not necessarily the ideal choice if you plan to stay longer term

I’d look at St George’s in Weybridge and Claremont Fan as well. ACS has a very good community of expat Mums if that’s your thing, very welcoming and helpful in settling you in, which you won’t get elsewhere. About 20% of the kids at ACS are local British kids, so it’s not as transient as some international schools. DD’s friends were a good mixture and she still sees those who stayed in U.K. regularly.

Cobham has a busy high street with lot of shops and places to eat. It's an expensive and beautiful area to live with woods and places to go for a country walk. Nearest schools are Claremont Fan Court and ACS. Lots of train station options and right by the A3 for London and the south coast. I love the area as you can tell!