Guildford County vs George Abbot

[Eelikoos]

This is probably the billionth thread on this topic, but interested in current views. We are moving to Guildford with our 2 kids, and it looks like you either choose Guildford County OR Gabbot catchments - doesn't seem to be any areas of crossover, at least not in our budget with any space. So, how do we choose which one to go for? We have a Yr5 kid who is very social and makes friends easily but not into sport and not historically academic, struggles with attention, though hasnt been diagnosed with anything. Our Yr2 kid is better academically and enjoys winning, also very friendly but might struggle a bit with friendships. Where are they going to fit better? Will County make my eldest feel bad if she can't keep up academically? Which school deals better with disruptive behaviour? Where will they be able to find their tribes and excel at the things they like, especially on the arts side of things? Is there diversity at County, or does everyone share the same socioeconomic background, given the tiny and affluent catchment? Also, Is it possible to get into County from Queen Eleanor Rd? Is it possible to get into Gabbot from Onslow? ...so many questions. Would appreciate your thoughts on any of them, thanks!

County is a much better school than GA these days. However, the number of kids getting in on distance has reduced due to a lot of siblings in the past couple of years, so the distance radius has shrunk in those years. If you want to guarantee getting in there, you really need to be in Onslow Village. GA is a much bigger school as well (PAN 300 v 180 at County).

Thanks @Elektra1. Can I ask in what ways do you think it's better? As in, better results or other ways, too?

Interested to hear what Elektra thinks makes County a much better school these days. I’ve lived here a long time and the two schools have always seemed to be on a pretty even footing reputation wise and in terms of academics, although I have not looked at academic results data recently.

They are very different sites though - GA is a huge school with multiple buildings, over 2000 students. Lots of green space, good sports facilities but sheer size can be overwhelming - although yr 7s have their own building which works well to settle them in. County is a much smaller town centre school with a more cramped site.

I went to GA many years ago and now have a child at GA and on the positive side I’ve found the pastoral support excellent, and there’s plenty of opportunities for sport, creative arts etc. On the downside he has found it quite academically pressured, but I suspect County would be the same.

Be very careful with ‘catchment’ - there is no such thing really. County goes on ‘distance to school’ and for Sept 24 you’d have needed to be within 1.6km. GA goes on ‘children for whom the school is nearest to their home address’ - this means if you have another school closer to you (eg Kings or Christs) you may not get in to GA as it needs to be your closest school to be certain of a place.

If you can, I would visit the schools and get a feel for them - both GA and Country are great schools and it may just come down to a sense of what would work best for your children.

There is a map on the Surrey website which you can put postcodes in to see which schools are closest - I tested a few Onslow Village postcodes and you wouldn’t get GA from there as County, Kings and Christs are all closer, as is Broadwater in Godalming. You should definitely get County though. And you should get County from Queen Eleanor’s Road too.

Definitely also heard the GA concerns - friends with siblings have sent the younger ones to other schools. Concern around behaviour/teaching at more senior years I believe.

Thanks, that's useful to know. Any thoughts on Kings College? I know it doesnt look very good on paper, but interested in people's actual experiences with it.

I have sent you a PM :-)

Hi @Eelikoos my kids are 1 year behind yours and we're thinking of doing the exact same move for County. Chosen for ofsted, progress, music academy & we have friends who are very happy with it.

Can I ask what your plan is for primary schools? When I called the council there seemed to be long waitlists at all the local primary schools

My children went to GA and both chose to leave for sixth form (Godalming College) as during their time at GA, a new head came in and the staff churn after that was ridiculous. It did not seem a happy ship under the new leadership.

One of my children did a GCSE subject for which the teacher refused to do ANY parent-teacher meetings, as she wasn't paid extra to do so. So I never got any feedback on my child's progress in a GCSE subject. I found this totally unacceptable.

I know several people with kids at County and all are very happy with it. That's my anecdotal tuppenceworth!

In response to Elektra - the 'new' Head Teacher joined George Abbot in 2016 so has been there a good while now. There's often staff turnover when a new head is appointed but as far as I can tell (based only on the past 2 years that my child has been at GA) staffing is pretty stable (as much as you'd expect for a staff of hundreds anyway)
I have no personal experience of County so can't compare though and ultimately if you have the opportunity (ie you're moving into the area and can therefore influence which school you get) it's about finding the right setting for your individual child :-)