Exeter School - getting there

[daddydaddaddad]

Hi all,

I'm moving down to Devon/Somerset with the family in the next year and we are looking for a place to live. We love the look of Exeter school if we head right down to Devon and I'm trying to figure out how far kids travel to get there. We would like to be somewhere vaguely rural outside the city but close enough that we can be part of the school community, make some friends and not have too much of a nightmare school run. We work from home so there is no other factors like commute to consider.

So far... I gather there is no school run bus service (which is strange isn't it?!). I hear there are parent run services from Okehampton and Newton Abbot though. I also hear Exeter traffic can be a nightmare. So are there hundreds of parents doing hour plus round trips every morning / afternoon and battling to park at the school gates? I was told some kids get a train in from Honiton area but the station looks a fair way from the school.

I'm tapping places into gmaps and just know the real travel time at school run time is going to be much worse!

Any advice on how big a radius to draw around the school for our house search / towns you would "look no further than" would be great.

Thanks,
Dad

Crikey Newton Abbot to Exeter school will take ages and ages. Twice a day

I'll ask DSis, she teaches there.

I was under the impression that most lived in Exeter, or very nearby.

Topsham is beautiful. Not too far.

Thanks very much.

Yeah I thought Newton Abbot seemed a stretch. I called the office and they weren't too helpful. This "terrible Exeter traffic" I keep hearing about just makes it hard to judge times... Be good to hear what your sis says thanks.

I have worked there and kids do travel miles to get there. A number come from the Totnes/Torbay/Newton Abbot direction. They get the train to St David's and then bus or walk from the station.

Topsham is nice but at a premium. There are buses or a train into the city. The good thing about Topsham is that it comes under Exeter City Council rather than one of the outlying authorities. Having lived in both Exeter & East Devon, I found Exeter much better. The train is quite crap - only every 20 or 30 minutes when it runs as it's a single track line. Similarly if you go to the east, towards Honiton, that too is a single track line with hourly trains.

There are buses that go along Heavitree Road out of the city towards the east. Check out Stagecoach Devon's services towards Axminster, Honiton, Ottery St Mary and Cranbrook. They could be a possibility as there are bus lanes and kids can get buses from 100m away from school. However, if you work from home, check out broadband in the areas you are looking at. I live 9 miles from Exeter School. Our broadband speed is dire. On a good day I can get there in 25 minutes by car (no public transport here). On a bad day it can take over an hour. PM me if you want any other info

Late to this. What did you decide to do? My daughter goes to Exeter school and we live about 22 miles away but it is totally worth the travelling in my view. But it is irritating that there are very few school bus services.

Hi arothwell,

We found a lovely house a bit further North and I think they will go to Blundells (not exchanged on the house yet). The drive would be exactly the same to Exeter school as yours I think - about 20 miles. 1.5hrs plus round trip twice a day is just too far for us I think. We have three kids so they will be doing different things after school on different days too probably. It sounds like a lovely school (though we haven't been able to visit properly!) but the whole package with the house and school works well with Blundells for us.

I have spoken to the Exeter admissions office a few times and they hinted that there are solid plans for more bus routes in the near future. They wouldn't promise anything (fair enough of course if nothing is decided) but it sounded likely.

Blundells is lovely. Just a lot more expensive! I’ll believe it when I see it re the buses! I resisted for years moving her to Exeter because of the travelling. She was at Torquay grammar. Moving her has been the best decision ever. Good luck.