Best area to live in maidenhead for borlase and highwycombe grammar catchment

[settleforgood]

Hello folks,

i am planning to buy house in maidenhead. My daughter is in year 2 and goes oldfield primary. I am now looking to but house that is in catchment of borlase and highwycombe grammae as well as have good secondary state as backup.

please share your valuable inputs on which area should I target to buy house

Have you looked at the catchment area maps on the schools' websites? For Wycombe High, it looks like Maidenhead comes into the 'B' catchment area, which means that applicants are ranked below those in the 'A' part of the catchment. Buckinghamshire County Council publishes data on all school allocations and this may not matter if the school always allocates well into even lower criteria, but it's worth bearing in mind.

As to where to choose to live, no idea, sorry. A relative moved there a few years ago, but as they are in their 70s, school catchments were hardly a priority.

You would be extremely unlikely to get a place at Borlase from Maidenhead - previous admission statistics show they tend to only go to 3 miles from Borlase. Some people in Cookham / Pinkneys Green get a place, but it is touch and go.

Review previous years’ admission statistics here:
https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools-index/school-admissions/school-admissions-guides-policies-and-statistics/school-place-allocation-statistics/

in combination with the individual schools’ admission policies and catchment areas

Wycombe High School is a strange one - some years the allocations go to 20 miles, other years much less (this year about 12 miles, which would be OK for Maidenhead). As your child is in year 2 these distances could change enormously, or the allocation criteria could change so it's a high risk strategy. The popularity of each of the Bucks grammar schools waxes & wanes so that distance could shrink (or grow) dramatically in the next few years.
For Borlase you need to live very close, and the same goes for the excellent local Upper School. Grammar schools are state schools, just like the Upper Schools.

For Borlase you do need to live under 3 miles away AND in catchment. I think this catches some families out who live in Bourne End and some parts of Maidenhead. Wycombe High seems to go to 12 miles ish so you would probably be ok from Oldfield but it’s worth checking the data for the last few years.

The only way to guarantee a place if your DC is to pass is to live IN Bucks.

Yes, historically, places have been granted to children in Maidenhead but this cannot be accurately predicted.

We live on the other side of Bucks but out of county (less than 0.2m from the border). There have been massive changes in the last admitted distances for the grammars in the last few years over here. Several parents have been caught out by expecting their child to get a place based on historical information and then not.

Your daughter is only in Y2 - a lot can change in four years.

You won’t be in catchment for Borlase in Maidenhead. Great Marlow is very good but once again you need to be in Marlow itself.
Newlands is meant to be an excellent school - personally I would look at that catchment for your daughter if you are looking in Maidenhead itself.

By the time your DC is doing the 11+, Bucks school catchments may have expanded as that is a lower birth rate year. Having said that, the closer you are, the greater the chance.
Also, do work out what your Plan B is if your DC doesn't pass the 11+. There are some surprises every year.

I would buy a house in Bucks if I was targeting a Bucks school 🤷‍♀️

Not the case.

some parts of Maidenhead are in Borlase catchment - you will need to look carefully at the catchment map (basically Furze Platt).

My chikdren have all gone (or are at) Borlase. Since the current year 13 downwards they have only offered to just over 3 miles in catchment. This will include part of the Pinkneys Green area but you need to be very specific as to where.

If you live in an area which is SWBGS catchment I think you can be pretty certain to get into WHS.

Furze Platt would be your catchment Maidenhead school I imagine if you are within the SWBGS catchment - or I guess Newlands but I don’t live in Maidenhead so I’m not sure.

A very small part of Maidenhead is (and has always been) SWBGS catchment.

Living in Bucks will not guarantee you a place at SWBGS - living in catchment within 3 miles of the school will, for the last 7 years at least, get you a place.

Borlase has a funny catchment due to the fact that it’s pretty much on the county border. This means that the Maidenhead/ Cookham parts of catchment are actually closer to the school then the Bucks villages on the Henley side of Marlow.

To combat this inequality they brought in a priority area a couple of years ago which gives prefeeence to these villages (above the parts of Berks which are catchment). This coincided with then having the extra class from year 7 as opposed to year 9. The result was that the distance offered in catchment stayed at about 3.1.

My youngest is year 13 and there’s was the first year it dropped to 3 miles - prior to that it was generally around 6 miles in catchment.

WHS has a much larger intake whikst there are no certainties as I said earlier if you are close enough to get into SWBGS you will get into WHS - 1st round this year they went to 12 miles and I have never known it to be so small that Maidenhead won’t get in. There are also a number from Maidenhead who go to BHS. In the last round of allocations SWBGS has only offered in priority area (so not Maidenhead / Cookham) and WHS hasn’t offered.

I didn’t say living in Bucks would guarantee you a place at Borlase - I said a place at a grammar school. It’s not always the grammar you want, nor the closest, but there are enough grammar places for those living within Bucks that pass.

It’s very interesting that a small part of Maidenhead IS included in catchment though - apologies as I hadn’t realised that.

It’s rather different on the other side of Bucks. You have some areas of Herts that are less than 3 miles from the school but you won’t get a place, but last admitted distances are over 6 miles - all children within Bucks. It’s rather annoying that children don’t have access to their closest school due to some imaginary line. I know that the grammars are sought after and understand there needs to be some sort of cut off, but it is daft.

Borlase is unusual in that Marlow essentially sits on the county line - the bridge. Cookham and a small part of Maidenhead are part of catchment. My children have had a number of students from both in their classes and it is very much the norm - the Marlow train line is packed in the morning and at the end of the school day. Until maybe 3 years ago the Bucks villages which were further out did not get preference over the Berkshire catchment (I live in one of these) and they are further out from the school (although SWBGS is their closest school) - my eldest was admitted when the offer went to catchment to 6 miles but my youngest (first year offered to 3 miles) only got in as they were a catchment sibling (these get priority). This problem is why they brought in the priority areas as the villages were losing out to places out of county which were closer.

Whilst I’m very against students travelling in from mikes away - as happens in some of the Bucks grammars where students come from 12 or so miles - the geography of Marlow makes it entirely fair and reasonable that Cookham / Furze Platt / Pinkneys Green / Bisham are in catchment. Bisham is hit quite hard by the county border as, unless it’s changed v recently, you could live literally the other side of Marlow bridge and not be catchment for GMS.

It’s rather annoying that children don’t have access to their closest school due to some imaginary line.

County lines aren't imaginary lines though, are they? They are very real. Counties have their own local government, local councils, local funding, local politicians and so on. I make no comment on whether I believe the grammar system is a good one, but it's perfectly reasonable for residents of one county not to want to fund the schooling of residents of another.

@thing47 Yes, but a previous poster makes a very good point about children in Bisham not being able to access the local secondary modern which is in walking distance. Yet children are travelling by train from Maidenhead to get to another school in the same town. Utter madness.

Some people have no real choice over where they live due to finances.

Based on my research,

• Sir William Borlase's Grammar School (Marlow) includes part of Maidenhead in Catchment B, specifically areas like Bath Road towards - - Furze Platt and Pinkneys Green.
• However, areas on the other side of Bath Road, such as Cox Green, Boyn Hill, and near the railway station, are outside Catchment B.
• John Hampden (co-ed) and High Wycombe Grammar School (girls) cover all of Maidenhead in their Priority B catchment, and I am aware of some children gaining admission there, but I am unsure about admissions to Slough or Langley Grammar Schools.

In summary, living on the other side of Bath Road (Cox Green, Boyn Hill, Larchfield, etc.) falls outside Sir William Borlase's Grammar School's catchment.

@GIRIPRAKASH while the catchment area for Borlase stretches as far as the Bath Road, in reality, places are only awarded to within 3 miles of the school - so the absolute limit tends to be Pinkneys Green / Cookham. There is no "Catchment B" for Borlase either - there is a priority area which covers the more rural area to the west of Marlow, for which 15 places are awarded by lottery towards the top of the admissions criteria; after that (and siblings / staff priority, I think), all places are awarded by distance from the school.
Admissions policy: www.swbgs.com/attachments/download.asp?file=1511&type=pdf

@GIRIPRAKASH just echoing what the pp has said re SWBGS catchment. My children both went to SWBGS and since my youngest started (now 2nd yr Uni) they haven’t offered above catchment siblings and then catchment to 3 miles.

regarding your points of the HW grammars. JHGS is not co-ed and it’s Wycombe High School not High Wycombe Grammar School. JHGS is boys and WHS girls although there will be some limited crossover with just a couple of subjects in the 6th form.

Re: catchment map for SWBGS. It is blurry on their website with no road names.
Is there a clearly defined map or a postcode entry facility that anyone is aware of - essentially to see that catchment area?

There is a checker on the Buckinghamshire council website
https://services.buckscc.gov.uk/school-admissions/nearest

Thank you @Nonameoclue