Best state secondary schools in Hampshire and can we afford to live in catchment?

[NellyJames]

We are relocating to Hampshire. DH needs to get back into London just 3 times a fortnight so commute not really an issue.
Our eldest will be finishing GCSEs when next DC moves into Y6. Youngest will move into Y4. So we’d like to be in catchment for an excellent senior school for the younger 2 and where older one can do Alevels. I understand there’s far less pressure on 6th form places.

2 snags: we need 5 bed as it’s very likely that infirm MIL will move in within a couple of years max (she has no property so can’t contribute)
We have a max budget of 700k which I know will limit choice in very expensive SE.
DH has suffered a mini breakdown and whilst work have been phenomenal with regards working from home on a permanent basis (he’s quite senior) he’s very keen to be near the coast. Not to live on the coast but to be able to access it within an hour or so.
But schools will really determine where we end up.

Winchester might be an option for good schools and accessibility to London and the coast?

Not Hampshire but close - Highcliffe? Great beach, good secondary up to sixth form, cheaper than neighbouring coastal areas and on the Weymouth-London line.

Thanks @QuintusEstInHorto. Winchester looks lovely but we can’t afford what we need in the catchment for good schools.
@Cakecrumbsinmybra, I’ll take a look, thanks.

Can you afford:
Chandlers Ford (catchment for Thornden)
Romsey / North Baddesley or surrounding area (for Romsey or Mountbatten)
North of Winchester (for Perrins) (don't know how near to Basingstoke you could be for this but worth a look)

Peter Symonds 6th Form takes from a very wide area, but Barton Peveril in Southampton also very good.

e.g. www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-94581446.html

Romsey is a bit of a pain for commuting to London. You need to drive to Winchester first then train (or train Romsey to Soton, then Soton to Waterloo)

Here you go:
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-95647094.html
Says it is Thornden catchment. Can't go wrong.

Alton?
Whitchurch?

You really want to be on the Portsmouth/Basingstoke line for commuting in to London.

Be aware that some areas of Hampshire have no secondaries with sixth forms - all students leave and go to college.

Lots of parents in Basingstoke send their kids to school at Perrins or Beaufort in Winchester, so there is a bus specifically for that.

Petersfield?

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-71593338.html

re 6th form colleges. My personal views:

Pros:

• everyone has to make an active choice where they want to go next and what they want to do, no staying at school and taking inappropriate A level choices by default
• there is a wide range of good options for all abilities
• good 'stepping stone' to university for the more able kids, as more freedom than at a school
• no time tabling conflicts, almost any combination can be done

Cons

• no continuity of teaching
• less continuity of friendships
• possible longer commutes (which can also cost £££)
• teachers at school don't teach A levels, the college teachers don't know your child, so hard to get good advice in borderline cases
• pastoral care less good than at a school
• for those less mature the increased freedom and being told they are emerging adults is too much too soon

@TeenPlusTwenties, thank you so much. Lots of good info. I’m ideally looking for a school with a 6th form as I’m hoping (maybe unreasonably) that older DS can drive younger DS to school for a couple of years at least until DD is there too.
@SabrinaThwaite, thanks. I’ll have a look at Petersfield. Do you know what the school is like there?
@Fallulah, thanks. The commute could be as seldom as once a week so DH doesn’t mind it being reasonably awkward or long. House and school more important.

There really aren't many (as in I can only think of 1 in S'oton and that is a girls school) schools in South Hants with their own 6th forms. (Unless you want to go private.)

The Hants system is 6th form colleges.

Bay house school is Gosport has a 6th form. That's very near coast in an area (Alverstoke) that has huge houses within the range you're looking for.

Train direct from fareham to London but getting out of Gosport in the morning is a bugger so most people use the ferry to Portsmouth and travel to London from there.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-63219408.html

I would say that most of the recognised 'best' in Hants don't have 6th forms, so you might need to think whether that really is a requirement or not.

Rightmove

Any of these houses will be in good catchments. Depends on whether you'd rather be more rural, or town. Waltham Chase, Swanmore, etc., will be in catchment for Swanmore Primary, St Johns, etc., then Swanmore Secondary. Other schools will be Wyvern/Wildern for the Botley/Fair Oak houses.

I have a good friend in Petersfield. I believe the secondary there is outstanding. Also a friend in Hook, she’s very happy with the secondary school there. Both commutable to London. Bit further from coast though.

Just over the border of North Hampshire into West Berks there are a few good secondary schools in Newbury. St Bartholomew's is one.

N.Hants is possibly too far from the sea for the OP?

Have you thought about Ringwood School? It has a sixth form. It's close to the border with Dorset and not far from the coast.

Ringwood doesn't have a train station though.

I didn’t realise that the schools tend not to have 6th forms. Thank @TeenPlusTwenties.
NE Hants is more commuter belt which we don’t want and can’t really afford on our budget. Ideally, for DH’s mental health, we’d be near the sea and have a nice big garden. So he’d prefer to be further out with the garden and coast rather closer in with a cramped new build. We’d consider just into Dorset or West Sussex too but had thought Hampshire as we’d heard schools were very good.

Hampshire is like anywhere and has good and bad schools.

Where I live very close to coast I have 2 awful academies nearby, some ok secondaries and some really recommended. Often all within 2 miles of each other!

It's probably worth finding a house/area and then asking for advice on schools (and remember people will also have opposing experiences of the same one!)

You’d get somewhere decent for your budget along the south coast in West Sussex, but trains into London can take much longer so not so commutable.

Havant.
Easy commute into Waterloo. Cheap housing and lovely access to the sea. Schools are good /indies very good.

@itsgettingweird, thanks. Problem is, the school is more important so don’t want to buy a house then discover we’re not in catchment for a good school. I’d rather find the school then look for a house.
Thanks @SabrinaThwaite. Commute not an issue as long as within 2hours as it will likely just be once a week.
@lifeafter50, thanks. Can you recommend any of the secondary schools?

Well there's been some good schools mentioned here.

If you want coastal look at Fareham, Gosport lee on Solent way.

Brookfield, Crofton and bay house are good schools.

Bay house has 6 th and lots of Crofton students tend to move on there.

They also have an outstanding college in Fareham that has a site in lee on solent.

You can compare them to the other schools in area via the progress 8 website and then places like right move give you catchment areas.