Choosing a house in function of the school

[ChocFudgeCake]

Hi, We at last will be able to buy a property (small budget) :) DS is in year 3. we are happy enough with his primary. But not happy with the options of secondary around this area. So I thought it might make sense to move somewhere else in London. I'm sure many people have gone through this. Does anyone have any advice on how to tackle the task of looking for house, good primary and secondary? I have 4dC Thanks!!

Oh yes. Many have been through this. It's the Holy Grail and prices reflect this.

As to the "how". Well, what I found worked was working out what we could afford, area-wise, size-wise; doing some checking about local school options in those areas; and then basically juggling the three criteria until i had something workable.

A lot of people choose a first home around the primary, and then move for secondary but that can be quite tricky, for various reasons. So, if school is important, it is a good idea to have secondary options in mind.

There are a lot of pretty good primaries but secondaries are a bit trickier. Perhaps you should have a look at the Good School Guide and see if any of the areas with OK secondary options are areas you can afford to move into? then choose a primary on that basis.

You could choose a first home and primary within an area on the assumption you'll have to move again - but not so far that the commute back to the primary won't be impossible for the younger ones.

(Warning: I have a cold, so I'm not sure that that makes sense.)

Where you move to is going to be dictated largely by your budget. But you know that.

Thanks :) Animula, it all makes sense, get better soon. I'll take a look at the Good school guide. Although I think one has to pay to look at that?
I cannot contemplate commuting with 3kids to primary/nursery :( Where I live the nursery/school is only 4min away :o
DH and i have to set our priorities right, would we be happy to live in a flat to be in some catchment area? etc. I feel in limbo.

If I was looking I would consider the following: where do you work? How long are you prepared to commute? What kind of support system do you have and where is it located?
Then as you have narrowed down the areas, start looking at the local secondaries, and their entry criteria. A brief look at the GSG is probably all you need to start, and not all good schools are in there, you can see who is in there from the free section of their website (but not read their reports).
Only you can decide if a flat in a good school area is higher priority for you than a house; but last year I did see a 3 bed flat in catchment for a very good school which I would have probably taken over a house in a less good area, but that's me.

Are you church-going too because that will help your cause.....Personally, don't think SW London is a bad option at all as you have variety of schools and grammars too as an option. but depends on your budget for a home and how sniffy you are about not necessarily living in a lovely area. Although there are of course very lovely areas but with lovely house-prices too but not all housing stock too expensive if prepared to compromise on area

I would focus on the secondaries for your search. Get as close as you can to a good secondary. Hopefully, you will find a good primary too but it is easier to support your child in primary school if there are any weaknesses; it is harder to make up for the shortcomings of a secondary school.