Moving to Birmingham

[Adifinitum]

We are moving to Brum, and keen for any local advice regarding areas and schools.

Husband has a job at the uni and I mainly work remotely, so we have been looking at Harborne/Selly Park areas for a quick and easy commute to work.

We really liked Harborne when we visited but I’ve been doing some research on schools (we have a toddler) and now I’m worried. Looks like Harborne Primary just got a poor Ofsted, and it’s the biggest school in the area. Does anyone know anything about the local schools? Would we be better to live elsewhere - any tips appreciated.

St Peters Harborne. I wouldn't write off Harborne primary on the basis of 1 report, it's always been excellent. St Mary's could be one to consider.
How far out would you travel? Woodhouse primary in Quinton? Hurst green is very good, but a bit further out.

Thank you! Will take a look at those - though would prefer a non-denominational school. We would ideally be within a half an hour walk to work, as it would make a big difference for nursery and school runs.

My friend has recently moved this year from Harborne to London, and her child attended Harbone primary so I read their recent Ofsted and it would put me off. Friend’s DD is autistic and is now going to a SEN school so hard to compare her experience to that of a non SEN child as she was largely in a separate area to non SEN DC. They certainly didn’t manage her needs too well, but some of that was down to funding / recruiting 1-1. Personally if you’ve got choice of areas, I wouldn’t choose one with poor schooling choices. I’d also look ahead to secondary school catchments. Good luck.

Do some research on flooding in Birmingham. Some areas especially around the river Rea ( near Pershore road in selly park) have long standing serious issues with flood water.

There is a cross city train that goes to the university. Going south, it stops at bournville, Kings norton, northfield, longbridge, Alvechurch, Barnt green, redditch. Its a quick train journey and stops at the campus.

What about Edgabaston? Near to the uni and a good area.

Or seeing as there is a train station on campus, you could consider one of the nice villages with good schools like Barnt Green that is a short train journey into the uni campus.

We live in Hagley, a village about 30 mins from uni of B.

so many of my friends have moved here from Harboune during primary school due to lack of high schools. I think the best ones are grammer and state poor.

we have a fantastic primary, secondary and catholic secondary in the village.

also have coop, cafe, pubs, couple of shops so not a small village but lots going on in terms of scouts, football, dance etc

loafs of green space too

Have a look at Bournville. Lovely place to live.

Harborne is expensive and it doesn't get much better for schools after primary. It's considered a bit snobby too.

Driving in Birmingham is shit. So it's a really good idea to check out the line that goes to the university station and look at all of the places along the line that you could walk to a station. Far quicker to get into the uni on the train than any other way. Parking on campus is tight and also pricey, although I think you can still do salary sacrifice for a parking permit.

Edgbaston is also an area of 2 sides. Some parts are lovely, leafy and full of gorgeous houses. Other parts are grotty and a bit unsafe.

Selly park can be ok. Just not much of a community feel for me.

Bournville is a great shout, decent schools at primary, lots of open spaces, the Green is lovely. Close to the up-and-coming Stirchley with all of its independents.

Worcester is about 40 mins on the train and worth a look.

Lichfield is a bit further out on the train, 45 mins to the uni, but worth a look. A variety of excellent schools, primary and secondary. Lovely city, lots to do,but a walkable city.

Try using geoglider.com . It enables you to specify hundreds(?) of filters to use on RM including distance to work, what people say about the area, schools data, etc

Thanks everyone. We will take a closer look at Bournville, as well as investigating the other Harborne schools. I know there are really lovely areas a bit further out but I don’t think that would work for us at the moment - I’m often away for work so we are reluctant to be reliant on trains or driving in terrible traffic and want to be within a pretty guaranteed walk or cycle commute to nursery. Trains have let us down too much in the past!

Directly around the Uni is mostly student housing. So would need to be a bit further out for decent schools.
The bus routes along bristol road are ok though.

You need to look at the allocation data for Birmingham schools as well as the Ofsted rating. The better schools tend to be heavily oversubscribed across the city.

My friend lives in Edgbaston and her child didn’t get in to the primary school that is on their street.
Last year only 68% of reception applications that had St Peter’s as their first choice got a place, and it was 72% at Harbourne Primary. If you’re looking at an in year transfer (I’m not clear how old your children are) then I’d strongly recommend you contact the council for an indication of how long the waiting lists are for your year group.
Same applies to secondary schools. The grammar schools have catchment areas and the better comprehensive schools are hard to get into.
We live about about 200m outside catchment of a desirable comprehensive secondary school in south Birmingham, my neighbours child who has just started year 7 is number 104 on the waiting list.

I know that schools have recently been oversubscribed, but I think St Peter’s was undersubscribed this year actually. Applications seem to have been down across the board in Harborne for reception 2025 entry as 2020/21 was a low birth rate year. I presume other Harborne schools will have a higher proportion of applicants going forward after this Ofsted issue, unless things change quickly. My child is still pre-school so am thinking ahead but want to move near to a school that we hope they could go to. Obviously I’m aware that catchments could shrink again if birth rates climbed post-pandemic.

You probably have no idea how bad the traffic is in Brum in the morning rush hour. It's like a car park. You would be far better living outside and your DH commuting in by train. It is faster to travel 15-20 miles on a train in than 3 miles by car. You'd have to try it at 8am to truly understand. Sutton Coldfield or Lichfield might be your best option. Birmingham does have some nicer areas but having to drive to the Uni would be a nightmare for your DH. Look at Sutton Coldfield or Lichfield for schools because they have direct trains in to Brum.

You could also look at Solihull. They have excellent schools.

He would walk or cycle. We have no desire to drive in Brum traffic!

I used to walk from Bournville to the city centre along the canal. The university is closer than the city centre. Don’t know about schools but there are good grammars in Kings Norton. Cotteridge is a bit dodgy but only by comparison to Bournville. Houses outside the BVT are cheaper and still in that nice safe atmosphere. I enjoyed my time living in Bournville although it was a bit too suburban for me.