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.

Fair enough but I think you could probably find something else in your budget in that area.

but Wellow does not tick any of the OPs other criteria

@listeningquietly

• rural
• near the sea
• near a forest
• in good catchment area

What's it missing?

Glad you are able to visit and view the south coast , it would have been lovely for you to have visited some of the towns mentioned this last week in the sunshine. I don’t mean the big busy beaches, just the small non touristy ones.
Going back to the Gosport, Fareham, Stubbington, etc areas., there is a local football team with youth teams, a Crocket club with all ages ( all of mine went through both) hockey, netball, water sports etc.
I belong to the Bay House community choir and before lockdown was run by an a level music student. Previously by a student who is now an organ scholar at Oxford University. The drama department is also thriving. My boys enjoyed cross country along the beach as the school is on the coast road!
What hobbies do you and your husband enjoy?

Cricket obviously

I know Wellow well
(must nip into Carlo's again soon)
it is NOT near the sea
the Totton Bypass makes nothing near anywhere
the nearest train station is Romsey
nothing is easily within walking distance

whereas the Hillhead / Stubbington area has beaches and bird reserves and flat cycling and shops and a train station

Well, you don't know it that well if you want to nip into Carlo's! Wouldn't recommend it nowadays.

It's within half an hour of the sea which to me is quite close, especially considering some of the other places recommended here, 20 minutes to Soton train station (no point in going to Romsey to get to London anyway) and parts of it are actually IN the forest. Not sure what you mean about the by-pass - why is that relevant?

I don't have a vested interest but not sure why you are so against it.

Ces
Quickest route to the beach is down to the forest = totton bypass
20 min drive to Soton station = worse than a quick cycle to Fareham
I'm not "anti" wellow
but if you RTFT it does not meet the OPs needs

I have read the thread. If the OP doesn't like my suggestions she is quite free to ignore them. I have given my advice in good faith. You, on the other hand, seem to have set yourself up as a self-appointed expert and think you have the right to police someone else's thread. Rude and unnecessary.

I live and work in the Stubbington/Lee on Solent/Alverstoke area and this just popped up on my search www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/55837477?utm_source=v1:5bWFDybfWx7C7AGpeagt7mP3PgcqjuqJ&utm_medium=api
If you want to live by the sea, there are some great value for money properties here, and it’s not very touristy so you don’t have the issue of it becoming unbearable in the summer months.

Also, regarding Wellow, (and loving 'Crawley Hill' when they mean 40 tonne trucks hurtling along the A36 😂) the routes down to the actual sea involve the New Forest thus can get jammed in summer.

I also know Wellow well.

NellyJames just saw this and randomly remembered your thread
www.portsmouth.co.uk/lifestyle/homes-and-gardens/inside-ps725k-gosport-home-its-own-private-swimming-pool-and-hot-tub-2949182