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Moving from London to the Cotswolds (Secondary Schools)

30 replies

SSiska81 · 24/09/2024 11:10

Hello,
Looking to move my family, DH and DS (9, currently in Year 5) to the Cotswolds area. We live in Islington at the moment but our flat's expenses are too expensive, so we have the flat on the market and looking to move.

DH will have to commute to London once a week and another couple of times across SE England as he is in consulting.

I will be working in the area (looking at Swindon/Cheltenham/Gloucester/Oxford for potential employers) on a hybrid basis.

DS will not be trying 11 plus and we are not looking at independents so looking at good secondary comprehensive and non-selective schools.

In terms of places to move to, I love Cirencester, and surrounding areas. However, looking at the catchment areas, I cannot seem to find a catchement area where I can try getting DS into more than 1 school. Does such a place exist?
I like the look of Deer Park/ the Cotswolds School .
We have the option of renting so can be picky about location.

What would you suggest? I dont want to have just one choice, but unsure how to proceed.

Thank you very much.

OP posts:
Lemoneyey · 27/01/2026 09:58

@SSiska81 good luck. Well done!

May I ask what kind of house you went for? Also apart from cost, did you move for any other reason? I find leaving London really hard...

SSiska81 · 27/01/2026 10:01

We are renting our flat in London and renting a house here, Central location, much more space. I know how scary it is to leave London but we have a train from Moreton which brings me to Paddington in 90 mins, so when I feel like having a day out in London it's actually not impossible. At the stage of my life, almost mid-40s, I am loving the pace of life. I still work full time but I feel much less stressed out

OP posts:
SSiska81 · 27/01/2026 10:01

We are renting our flat in London and renting a house here, Central location, much more space. I know how scary it is to leave London but we have a train from Moreton which brings me to Paddington in 90 mins, so when I feel like having a day out in London it's actually not impossible. At the stage of my life, almost mid-40s, I am loving the pace of life. I still work full time but I feel much less stressed out

OP posts:
SSiska81 · 27/01/2026 10:02

We also moved for secondary schools. We had a local one in London which just wasn't great and we were in an area not really blessed with great schools.

OP posts:
Lemoneyey · 27/01/2026 10:22

SSiska81 · 27/01/2026 10:01

We are renting our flat in London and renting a house here, Central location, much more space. I know how scary it is to leave London but we have a train from Moreton which brings me to Paddington in 90 mins, so when I feel like having a day out in London it's actually not impossible. At the stage of my life, almost mid-40s, I am loving the pace of life. I still work full time but I feel much less stressed out

Best of luck! Sounds like it has worked out really well for you!

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