Where to live! 750k in London with good secondary state schools

[OneLimeHedgehog]

Hi! hoping to get some ideas of where we might want to live. I've poured over threads, but hoping to get some fresh thoughts.

We're looking to buy a 3 or 4 bed (understand 3 might be more realistic) with some outdoor space in London, somewhere with good state secondary schools (and primary too, but that seems easier). Currently would like it to be good for girls, either single sex or combined.

Any other details needed or thoughts?

Thanks!

As I said, depends on what you're after! If top academic results are your priority then maybe not, but if a solid community school with a nice vibe is, and you have non academic arty/sporty kids, then they are good options.

Personally if my dc was average academic ability (as most dc are) I would want them at a school that got the best out of them. High achievers will do well in most schools.

@OneLimeHedgehog you can drill down on that link so you can see results by prior attainment etc

This will definitely be impacted Lambeth schools

schoolsweek.co.uk/admissons-watchdog-saves-falling-rolls-schools-from-closure/

"Lambeth is one of the worst affected boroughs in the country on falling rolls, with 1,000 fewer children starting at primaries than a decade ago.
The borough predicts it will have a £23m deficit across its 68 maintained schools by 2026-27. Government data forecasts that unfilled primary spaces will rise to 36.9 per cent in the same period."

It's crazy how things have changed & quite sad really.

I hadn’t realised how young your DD was. There are plenty of very good Catholic schools around my area out on the Metropolitan line but I think a few parishes still use age of child baptism as one of the entry criteria if they are over subscribed. Don’t wait until settled in the area to go ahead if its in your plans already.

Its a good area for connectivity into London and out. The Met line, Piccadilly, Central tube lines and the Chiltern train line all nearby to the Uxbridge spur of the Met line and not far from the Northwood spur.

I would also say considering DC age, focus on primary schools. It will be ten years before you are looking at secondaries and they can change a lot in that time (in both directions). There are plenty of decent, family friendly areas with good primaries and green space around my (NW part of London).

Also bear in mind in grammar school areas, you are gambling that your children will make it into the grammars. I know a few families who have fallen foul of that with one child not making the cut and they were then shocked at the lower level of provision in the non grammars. That said, if you are practicing there will also be church schools to consider.

This is a useful map for showing property selling prices in different areas. You're looking for pale yellow. https://housemetric.co.uk/map/region/london

Depending on how far out you want to be Coulsdon, Streatham and Crystal Palace might fit the bill. We used a website called Locrating to assess schools when we were looking to move. Good luck with the hunt!

Guess we'll see what happens with stamp duties, but we were hoping not to make too many moves! It's crazy to me how much secondaries can apparently change.

Noted on the grammars... I'm overall not keen, though I understand they are academically good. We are also exploring further out of London (though wary of commutes) and fairly sure we want to rule out Kent because of that.

And super helpful point about age of baptism! More of a "i just need to get organised" thing at this point.