Relocating to Cambridge as a family

[Tsarina123]

Hello, lovely people of Cambridge!

We are a family of 3 (soon to be 4) who are thinking of relocating to Cambridge.

We’ve visited a few times and love how vibrant the city centre is, that it’s walkable/cyclable, the greenery, the architecture and that it’s an international city.

I’d love to hear feedback on what it’s like raising kids/living in the city. Specifically:

• How are the state primary & secondary schools? Are there any particularly exceptional schools?
• How are the private schools?
• Are there lots of activities for preschoolers and tweens/teens? (We don’t want to move again!)
• Parents of teens- do you feel that the city is safe enough to give your kids freedom to go into town by themselves etc?
• Where are the nice/family friendly areas to live? I’ve heard great things about Newnham- are there other places that we could be looking into?
• Is it relatively easy to meet people and establish community? (I appreciate this is often down to how much time/effort you’re willing to put in)

Any information would be very appreciated as we don’t know anyone who lives there 🙏

As with most cities where you can afford to live will dictate a lot. E.g. private schools ok/good but if you want to stand a chance of being able to get kids to it on time you need to choose where you live accordingly.

What's your budget? Where will you work - ie do you want to be within walking/cycling 30 mins of a train station?

What's your budget for housing? West Chesterton is nice and has v good state schools for primary and secondary (Chesterton Community College). You need to be very careful about catchment areas for state schools though - all the info is available on the county Council website. Make sure you understand the admissions process before you choose a house. Newnham is in catchment for Parkside at secondary I think, it's very convenient for the private schools though. Lots of chat about the private schools in Local Talk. Moat of them are located around Hills Road /Trumpington Road areas.

Cambridge is a great city - loads to do for kids of any age and if you live in the city, once they're high school age they seem to be fairly self sufficient as they can cycle themselves around and don't need lifts everywhere! Our 10yo (11 in October) has just started going out and about in the city with friends this summer.

I think it is a good place to make friends and community - the international community and universities mean there's a turnover of people so there are lots of other newcomers also looking for friends and community, especially if they are without extended family nearby.

For Chesterton Community College look for houses in Milton Road or Mayfield catchment areas. Avoid Eddington (University primary) and Darwin Green if your children are close to secondary age as there is a lack of secondary places until the new secondary is built. None of the secondary schools are bad though Chesterton, Parkside and St Bedes (Christian) are more highly sought after. Most of Cambridge is within 30 mins cycle from anywhere else in the city. No problem with teens going out with their friends.

Thank you all for the responses 🙏 It’s very reassuring to hear that state schools are good and that it’s safe enough for older children to have some freedom!

My partner will need to be in London 3 times a week so we want to stay relatively close to the station. I work from home.

Our housing budget is up to £1.2 million and we’re not particularly fussed about having a detached house or a massive garden as long as there are green spaces nearby for the kids to run around.

Lots of activities for preschoolers and tweens. Less good for teens.

very safe. Mine cycled into the city quite a lot.

state secondaries vary quite a lot. Catchments can also be small. Primaries generally good.

can personally recommend the Lammas land playground - my kids had hours of fun there. Newnham is also a quick cycle to the station.

privates - generally good. At secondary some are day only and some mostly boarding (Leys etc). Not cheap.

Raised a pre teen and teenager in Cambridge. Two best secondary state schools are Chesterton and Parkside. Tiny catchment areas. We lived in the Kite area, fantastic accessibility to town and really safe. Kids learned to ride their bikes as socialising involved biking all over town with their friends. Summer spent swimming in the river. They loved it.

The cost of parking in Cambridge is eye watering! Lovely city though. Wish I could live there.

@somewhereintheworld if you live in Cambridge you don't use a car much as you cycle. Alas us poor buggers who can't afford to live in Cambridge, well, we try and use rubbish buses and end up with the under-sized park and ride or driving then biking....

Your budget will buy you a reasonable 4/5 bed house but as you say - you’ll have to consider compromising on one of: size, location, garden, condition.

As with anywhere state schools are suffering for lack of funding and the SEN crisis. Private schools are quite polarised and our three kids have had radically different experiences across 4 of them.

My recommendation would vary depending on whether you have girls or boys…

Is it? I pay £70 for a year long residents’ permit for my road I think which seems reasonable.

And as other people have mentioned, it is very walkable/cycleable so no need to use public car parks if you live in Cambridge itself.

Agree with you Notablel! Perhaps the previous poster was talking about metered parking which can be rather expensive, like the Grand Arcade