In Year application for Secondary Schools in London/ Greater London, any good recommendations of borough to live and study?

[MaKP]

Dear Mums,
I am new to the community and unfamiliar with Secondary schools in London/ Greater London. I don't know if anyone has experience with in year applications for secondary schools in London and suburban areas around? I am looking to apply for my kid to start in Year 9 this new academic year but don't know which schools are 'good', have vacancy and which borough is safe and good environment for new family arriving in London. I am confused about how councils say you can apply to neighbouring boroughs but schools have a distance criterion that is so close to their school? Any advise is very much helpful..... Thank you so much in advance.

Distance not borough is what will matter, I would pick a few areas you would be happy to live and start ringing local authorities and schools themselves to find out what their waiting lists are like. Popular schools can have up to 200 in the waiting lists still in year 8/9 so you will want to move as close as possible once you have decided where you would like to be. There is quite a lot of movement between schools too at this time as some kids find they don’t fit/ aren’t happy with where they got at year 7. Some schools will run a 3 year course for GCSEs so will be starting at the beginning of year 9 so that’s worth getting your head around too although most will pick their options during year 9.

what’s your budget for renting/ buying? What’s your child like? Any must haves or would likes? Any areas in mind. difficult to advise with such an open question.

London is massive so starting with good schools with a place is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I would start with where you need to be for work and work out the commute you want to do. That should lead you to a few areas and then you can see if they are good for families/has an international community if you're coming from abroad and then start thinking about schools.

Do you have a boy or girl? Quite a few single sex schools in London and the provision is of different quality in some areas.

The main thing is distance but there are a few schools who use different methods like lotteries or use borough lines as a priority marker. Some require you to do a banding test for ability and then you're put on the waiting list for that ability group.

Where do you need to be in London?

I am confused about how councils say you can apply to neighbouring boroughs but schools have a distance criterion that is so close to their school

Because sometimes depending on where you live, you may be closer to another boroughs school than a school in your own borough. So for example, I live right on the edge of my borough. The nearest secondary school is in the neighbouring borough to me. It's less than a mile from my house. In my borough there are schools which are five miles away from my house yet still in my borough if that makes sense.

By the way, Bromley and Bexley are reasonably ok for secondary schools.

@MaKP as a pp said, budget is the key thing as the most desirable areas are usually also the most expensive to rent/buy property.

My borough (Richmond) is popular with families looking for good schools, as is neighboring Kingston. People also regularly mention other boroughs in these threads, so you need to give more info if you want useful advice.

Are you a churchgoer? The UK is one of the few countries in the world where religious practice can give you higher priority for some faith-specific state schools.

If you are from a particular culture or country, you may want to consider whether you want to be with others or not and whether if so, that will point towards particular bits of London. For example, there is a large Korean community in New Malden (Kingston) and there have been a lot of people from HK moving to Kingston.

@latejoiner Unless somebody has a genius child and is aiming for one of the most selective schools ( Tiffin schools), is a Catholic ( Holly Cross & R. Challoner) then the only good school in Kingston Borough is The Kingston Academy with a tiny catchment. The rest of schools in Kingston Borough are average.

What about Coombe Girls and Coombe Boys?

I live in Barnet which has a selection of above average state secondaries - I don't know how much availability there is. Some areas also don't have an obvious catchment school, so you'd want to live near one of the good ones to get a place.

@Meredusoleil
Look at the GCSE results. It is good but not very good. On the other side of river you have several schools with "Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs " around 78-82 percent. Coombe girls has 60 percent.

Barnet/Finchley area is well known for good schools, also Richmond/Twickenham.
You would have to call the boroughs to find out about spaces available though.
Locrating is a useful website, worth researching on that.

Ealing is a lovely leafy borough with great secondary schools and transport links. As above would be worth calling the schools to see what waiting lists are like though.

@MaKP , avoid the Locrating website. It scrapes information from Government/Ofsted sites that is freely available, and adds misleading and inaccurate information about year-7 catchment areas that will be absolutely no use to you for an in-year transfer.
Useful websites are:
https://www.gov.uk/school-performance-tables
https://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/

Plus, every local authority publishes information on its website (sometimes outsourced, e.g. This site covers both Richmond and Kingston boroughs: https://kr.afcinfo.org.uk/pages/community-information/information-and-advice/school-admissions)

Exactly. I know a mum who was hugely disappointed on 1 March when she has discovered that her kid didn't get in and she is not in catchment whereas the Locrating put her within it.

Ealing has some really great schools (mostly religious which may be a positive or negative for you). With the exception of Twyford and Cardinal Wiseman they are all distance criteria. The most important thing is to live as close to the school as possible so you are number 1 on the waiting list.

https://www.gov.uk/school-performance-tables

you can click “local authority” here and type the borough name to see the lists of best schools and their progress-8 scores.

Realistically, no great schools in London have open spaces with no waiting list so you want BIG schools which will have more turnover in raw number terms and then to live almost next door to the school.

https://www.ealing.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/13505/high_school_places_for_10_may_2024.pdf

Ealing vacancies can be seen here

Ealing has fantastic schools if somebody is OK with CoE schools.

Thanks for your advise all! I am narrowing to Barnet Borough, though even that in itself is huge. I am looking for co-educational for my boy and girl.

Does anyone have any advise about in-year application into Year 9 for the below schools regards, teachers, way of teaching, school environment. Wonder if moving very close to the school will actually help - if there are no movement and no vacancies?
Ashmole Academy
Southgate School

Ark Pioneer Academy
The Totteridge Academy
East Barnet School

Wren Academy
The Compton School
Friern Barnet School

Are you living in London now? Are the children receiving an education? Term doesn’t end until late July, so if you are here and they are not in education, you should be looking for an immediate in-year Year 8 place.

@MaKP You can see how Barnet secondary places were allocated in March here: https://www.barnet.gov.uk/sites/default/files/allocation_table_2024_final_1.pdf

All of the schools you listed, except for Friern Barnet, will likely have waiting lists. Some, like Wren Academy, will have very little movement on theirs. Friern Barnet almost always has places; it's small and isn't as hardcore academic as a lot of other schools, but I've heard good things about it being a nurturing environment. It's also small and has a strong focus on the arts. It's also much more relaxed about uniform.

Southgate and Compton are part of the same trust, so might have a similar feel. The Compton isn't as high control as Wren, but does have a reputation for being strict.

Maybe take a look at Christ's College Finchley as well. It's another smallish school and there can be some movement on their waiting list.

We won't be in town until August. Just worried that we'll move close to a school but find they would be full but then distance to other schools would be too far. Comparing East Barnet School and Ashmole, which would be more all rounded both student wellbeing and academically? As I am unfamiliar with the area, East Barnet seems far from amenities, shopping and grocery store including underground station though.

Thank you for sending the allocation, that is very helpful. I am considering whether East Barnet School or Ashmole Academy. Anyone have experience about whether there are movement in these schools at Year 9? Also if anyone knows of these 2 schools and if they are well rounded balanced academically, arts/ sports and teachers caring for student's wellbeing.
Many thanks for any advise.... just seems very difficult with distance

It's not really possible to predict whether there will be in-year places available. I would suggest you ring the Barnet school admissions team (they're friendly) and have a chat. The current waiting lists are cleared at the end of the school year and then new ones are created. The Local Authority has to offer your child a school place if they don't already have one and I think they try to ensure the school is less than three miles from your home, but do check this with them as I'm not completely sure.

What is your child like? Are they very academic? Do they have any special needs? What are their interests? Are they familiar with UK culture already or will everything be new to them when they come to the UK?

I quite like East Barnet School and have heard positive things about their pastoral care. They also teach more foreign languages than most state secondaries, if that's of interest. The village is also really nice with lots of little shops and cafes, and Oakhill Park is lovely. Cockfosters tube station is only a 10-minute walk away and Cockfosters also has shops and restaurants and Trent Park. There are good bus connections from EB to Southgate, Chipping Barnet, even Wood Green.

I haven't really heard anything positive about Ashmole's pastoral care. It promotes itself as "unapologetically academic" and is probably on the very strict side.

Yes thanks, I am swinging between Ashmole and East Barnet, but unfortunately, it's difficult to meet distance criteria to fit both schools so would look to anyone's experience, knowledge and advise about the schools and perhaps will just have to choose one to be as closed to then reach out to LA about the other school to find out spaces if unsuccessful with the first. Pastoral care, extra curricular and also academic qualities are considerations for us. As my kids will be new to the education system, I would look for a caring school where teachers are committed to teaching and student's wellbeing. however, not neglecting amenities and transport links for work (commuting into city for work), Ashmole appears to be ideally located for that as Southgate underground and Asda is close by

@MaKP I know you said you weren't looking for a faith school, but do look at St Andrew the Apostle School too. I know a family with a child there and they say it's no more religious than the average CofE school, i.e. very "take it or leave it", and with 50% of its admissions open to everyone. The small academy trust that runs it also runs a non-faith school in my borough, which does very well.