Help choosing area for state secondary school

[MomofSS]

Hi parents

I will be moving to London soon and im having a hard time finalising which area to choose. Im supposed to select 3 boroughs to submit to my husbands company and while ive selected Kingston and Richmond, im struggling with choosing the third. Im looking for areas that have plenty of good state secondary schools for my daughter and the area is also lively and safe. My husbands work will be mostly work from home but may have some trips to bankside but we would want to prioritise on school. Ive shortlisted the following and was hoping you all could help me with your experience and pros and cons.

Ealing
Sutton
Merton (wimbledon)
Harrow

Please help this struggling mom
P.s also open to better suggestions

Yes of course, what a fool I am! So in fact if she is 10 now she will deffo be going into at least yr 6 in September! I was thinking she might be going into yr 5 but that would be if she was 9 obvs

Yes @MomofSS good point - her 11th birthday is not before August 31 this year is it?

No it isn't.. she will be 11 in Jan next year

The best schools in Ealing have religious character. That may be a good, bad or neutral thing for you. They do not all have religious entry criteria though (just Cardinal wiseman and Twyford).

The catchments for the others are small but not vanishingly small and they are fairly consistent.

https://www.ealing.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/18711/high_school_on_time_offers_2024.pdf

You won’t just need the right area, you will need the right address. Competition for secondary in Kingston and Richmond is fierce. There are many good secondary schools but you have to pick one and then live as close as possible to it. Check the schools admissions policy as some have preference for feeder schools.
Do you have any additional cards’ up your sleeve? Is your DC very bright (Tiffin grammar school), musical or has an aptitude for language? Are you a practicing Catholic? There are many faith schools and lots of schools with music or language places.

What about Barnet or Haringey? Camden also has some very good girls schools as well. The area may be more central than you would like though.

"There are many good secondary schools but you have to pick one and then live as close as possible to it."

Not always, so do read the admissions policies before you move, not after. There is one school in Richmond borough that takes 80% of its students by distance to a nodal admissions point a couple of miles away from the school itself, so if you moved close to the school your chances of a place would be lowered. Another Richmond school takes a smaller percentage of its students from a remote catchment. And the local Catholic school uses random allocation for families with the relevant certification. All of the admissions policies are on the school websites.

Unless you are practicing Catholic ( Holly Cross, Rich Challoner), move to the very heart of Kingston ( Kingston Academy), your kid is an absolute genious( Tiffins and bright is not enough) then Kingston doesn't have any amazing schools but ratger average.