How long is your DC's school commute?

[Schoolhelp23]

I'm central London and have a very academic child. Can't move, so weighing up how long a commute is reasonable (for the likes of HBS, St Michael's - if she gets in). So, how long is your child's school commute?

Just under a 5 minute walk, if we walk to the end of the road we can see the playing fields.
Its Private though, the State school was about 15 minutes walk.
Lots of DS's friends have lomg commutes as there aren't may Private schools in the area and they are always jealous that hes so close. I love it, not only is it so easy for him but its not unusual for a friend or 2 to walk home with him and get picked up from here, it was the same when DD was there too

90 mins each way is the absolute maximum.

7-9 min drive

10 minute walk.

We live in SW London suburbs, DD has a 25 minute walk to high school. DS journey was an hour door to door - walk to bus stop then either one bus and a longer walk or two buses and a shorter walk.

Longer commutes across London for certain schools can be common. I can remember being at an event at City of London Girls School (based in the Barbican) where they had a map of where girls travelled in from - to encourage them to find people to travel in with - and there were girls travelling in from all over London.

The CLSG boasts a heart location in the City of London area, making it easily accessible via public transportation from all corners of London. Most girls have a convenient door-to-door commute of 30 to 50 minutes, with only a few exceptions traveling over 60 minutes.

As a child I had a 1 hr commute to school on the tube, changing 3 times. The timing wasn’t as bad as the route - I vividly remember the feeling of being squashed on the platform every day, waiting for two or three trains to pass before I could squeeze on. I hated it and as an adult have chosen to never have a job that required that kind of commute!

if you’re already central then dc might be commuting in the other direction though, which could be much better!

90 minutes each way.

We live rurally and nearest school was just under an hour, nearest good school was 75... and a faff. So made sense to do the 90 minutes for the school that was perfect for DD.

Commute is 2 trains with a platform change in between and very short walks at each end. Guaranteed a seat on both trains both ways.

Main train has good wifi, tables and chargers, so DD does all her homework - or watches Netflix on her iPad. Trains are much easier to work on that buses or tubes.

A longer commute with fewer changes is less tiring that a shorter commute with stressful changes.

In terms of friendships, if the school is non-catchment (lottery, super-selective etc) then it's fine as your child is not the odd one out. DD has a season ticket so just goes into London to meet up with school friends in the holidays and at weekends. Very few live within walking distance of school.

London is great as lots of options for travel so staying late no issue, also if you miss one train there will be another. Local schools had one dedicated bus and if you missed that it was very hard to get to or from the school.

DD has commuted since Y1... now in Y10 and has no issues with it.

Do check the reliability of the train route. Some experience frequent strikes, cancellations, and constant delays, while others have long intervals if you miss one train, can be very frustrating experience.

When we moved abroad my children (then 13 and 11) went from a 2 minute walk with a 9 am start time to an hour's commute with a change of trams in a non English speaking city with an 8 am start... All was well until the morning the tram was not running and replaced with a bus service and they didn't understand the notice as it was in German! Eventually they asked someone and made to school albeit a bit late.

40 minute drive to softy-selective indie. Worth it
for the traditional values and complete lack of furries and genderwoo crap

DS1 - five min walk. But it is a grammar school so some are an hour commute or more
DS2 - 25 min walk.

I had an hour bus ride to my grammar school, so two hours on a bus every day, but I didn't mind at all, I quite liked it.

A longer commute is acceptable if direct than if multiple changes are required. 45 min on one tube line will be less tiring than a journey that takes 45 min journey on a good day but reliant on 3 different lines where late connections can stretch the journey time.

But make sure that there is at least one feasible alternative option for when the usual route is down.

We are fairly rural and the Ds are at a private. Ds1 has a range of SEN and this was the best option for him. DS2 got a full bursary which we are waiting to hear if it may be cut due to VAT etc and mitigation measures.

It's a 40 minute drive each way best case in terms of traffic. I drive there and back in the am and DH drives there and back in the PM. The school bus has a waiting list and Ds1 gets horrifically travel sick so this is the best for us. I used to work in the same town as the school but now no longer.

We leave for school at 7.20 and I return a bit before 9.30 if i have stopped off at Aldi. DH leaves at 3.30 and is home a smidgeon before 5.

20-25 mins by bus or 35 min walk or 30 min tube (DD usually gets the bus). We're in London zone 2 travelling to a zone 1 school. Would have considered up to 45 mins tube journey, but being close enough to walk or cycle is really handy on tube strike days (the buses are awful during tube strikes). Lots of students travel from further away, but life is definitely easier for DD to not have to.

We didn't consider grammar schools really as most of them are in outer London, but we are fortunate to be able to pay for private. Would you be able to consider the central London independent schools (with a bursary if relevant)? Or a music place at a good state comp?

You mean superselective private I guess not just any private. The OP is talking about academic child.

A clever child will be fine virtually anywhere.

London zone 6. Currently a 15 minute drive to primary as we weren't keen on the local ones.

DS is starting secondary in September and his new school is a 20 minute walk. DD will almost certainly go to a school even closer - under 10 minute walk.

I don't think it is quite that simple. A clever child may be able to achieve more or less anywhere but there's more to being fine than getting good exam results.
I was a clever child at a very poor comprehensive. I could not have achieved better results in my exams anywhere else but I am sure I would have been happier if I hadn't been relentlessly bullied. And I think I would have enjoyed having a wider choice of subject options, more extracurricular activities and so on. So yes, I was a high achiever, went to a good University and have had a successful and well paid career despite going to a terrible school so you could say I was fine there I suppose. But I was miserable for a large chunk of my formative years. Had I been offered the chance to travel to a school that might have suited me better I think I would have jumped at the opportunity.

Obviously it is a balance. I wouldn't advocate an hour's travel each way for a school with only marginal advantages over one 5 mins away, but if the local school is very poor or the distant one offers something significantly beneficial to an particular child which can't be accessed more locally then it may be worthwhile. It's got to be an individual decision based on the specific circumstances.
I "did fine" at my school, but I think I could have thrived elsewhere.

If only.

DD has extremely high CAT scores, and severe SEN, and part of that SEN is extreme focus and interest in a very narrow area.

I looked at 27 secondary schools and she would have been utterly miserable in at least half of them.

Needed the right mix of academics, flexibility and a school that were happy to work with her to support what she is exceptional at, and somewhat ignore what she is never going to pass because she has no interest in doing so. We were lucky and found a school that ticked all the boxes, but I do not want to think of the mess if we had not.

Whereas I spent an hour commuting to the supposedly "better" school and hated it - I was permanently exhausted; it limited my free time; I couldn't do after school activities as I had to leave straight away to get the school bus; and I never saw friends out of school as they lived so far away.

The fact of having a longer commute, should be factored into whether a school is "better" or not - not the schools just compared to each other.

Parents that have 30-40 minute commutes? Do you work? How is that managed?

Secondary school age travel independently.

I've always worked - in primary I dropped DD off at breakfast club and then went on to work, and picked her up at 6pm from after-school club.

Secondary I went with her the first day and she's done it independently ever since.

Yes almost all children in London will be travelling without parents on public transport or walking (though often in groups of friends), even those with longer commutes. DD travelled independently from Year 6 although primary school was only a 5 min walk.

When I drive him, 30 minutes. When he gets the bus (most days), about an hour and 10 minutes which is two bus rides and a short walk.