Best State secondaries in Cambridge?

[AnnieLobeseder]

We're planning to move to Cambridge in about 18 months or so, and the main deciding factor on where we move to will be the best possible secondary school for our DDs. Now, I don't much understand the UK education system with "specialist" schools (there were just plain ordinary High Schools in both my and DH's countries) but I'm we'd want a school with emphasis on academic achievement, with an eye to good GSCEs, then A-levels and university. DH and I are both academic, and so far the DDs appear to be too.

So which schools are good - not just purely academically, but also with good after-school activities, arts programs, a nurturing atmosphere etc....

Maybe the bursaries are currently less generous than they were? A friend's daughter was offered a 'generous' bursary to a private girls' school that would have covered 50% of fees. Unfortunately covering the other 50% would have left them minus any means of paying the rent.

That was very lucky. Maybe we caught the school on a very bad year :( Yes our 'generous' bursary was 50% - and yes we would have had to have lived in a box on the street to pay the rest :( It makes one wonder how poor exactly you would have to be to get a full one. It was a shame as we had made it very clear that we were a) very poor b) had no savings and c) she couldn't go without a full bursary from the first open day! Oh well.

Just from a practical level - although you say that schools will be your main driver, you probably also want to have a good think about house prices and commuting routes and times as well. If you're working in the city centre, for example, you may or may not have car parking available at your work place, and even if you do, the traffic in the morning can be absolutely horrendous.

I think you have to visit the schools to get a feel for them and whether or not your DCs would fit in at them.

I know my DS would really struggle and be eaten alive if I sent him to Parkside or Tha Manor (for very different reasons), there just isn't a school that suits everyone. There are parents who could say the same for all the other schools with regards to their kids too, there is no one 'best' school.

Having said that, most of the secondary schools are good around here. I am going to look at Chesterton, Comnberton and Cambourne in the next few weeks to make my decision.

Grendelsmum is right. Commuting into Cambridge can be a nightmare. Commuting out of Cambridge is far easier

And I think that OverMyDeadBody is very right with her comments that there isn't one best school for every young person.

House prices in Cambridge and villages to the south can be very, very high, because from Cambridge it's a quick commute into London. A London-dwelling friend, thinking about making the move, was really taken aback when she realised that houses were as high in Cambridge as they were in many parts of London.

So a lot of people that work in Cambridge live in the villages and commute in, hence the appalling traffic.

Thanks again everyone.

We're looking more at north Cambridge, and as far out as we can get and still have a short-ish commute. So probably more in the region of Impington and Swavesey. We have very good friends in Newmarket we want to see lots of so don't want to be as far west as Comberton.

I'll probably be working in the Science Park or the University, while DH, I imagine, will be more central.

At the moment we live in Surrey commuter belt hell, even though neither of us work anywhere near London, so house prices are crazy and we are a family living in a 1.5-bed starter home as it's all we afford around here. We like to go on Right Move and look at Cambridge property porn. It makes us happy!

In that case, it seems easy enough. You probably want to look at Histon, so you can take the guided bus into the Science Park and on towards the town centre, or cycle if you prefer. Histon is on the A14, so you'll be able to head straight over to Newmarket.

Local school is Impington Village College, which I think has already been mentioned on this thread.

Hurrah! Off to Histon we go!

I spent my childhood in Histon Lovely primary school.

My son will be in Year 7 soon. He is quite academic so far. We are considering either Parkside or Chesterton community college. We visited both schools but couldn't tell much difference except the size of the school.

Is there any difference between Parkside and Chesterton in terms of teaching quality, in particular, for lower grades (say, Year 7, 8 and 9). Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Forgot to mention Chesterton is ranked ahead of Parkside in 2018 and 2017. Is this true? Does anyone know anything about Parkside's ranking history? I know it is the top in 2016.