Surrey Secondaries - Weydon School, Rodborough and Woolmer Hill

[Pheath]

Hi - looking for recent experience of the above schools from parents with children attending. My daughter is 7yrs and we are looking to relocate to Surrey over the summer hols (thinking of Godalming, Farnham or Haselmere) and would like ideally to be in the catchment for the right secondary later on. She's a bright girl but am looking for a school with a good emphasis on wellbeing, it's far more important to me that she's happy than achieving high grades and doing 10+ GCSEs. Although she's still very young and of course will change as she gets older wouldn't describe her as a natural academic, although no SEN needs she's extremely sensitive and can be anxious and overly emotional. I know in Farnham Weydon is the school many aspire to go to but wasn't sure if it was for highly academic children with lots of homework set daily or perhaps they're all like that now, I'm not sure. I'd heard Woolmer Hill was more nurturing but just thought I'd cast it out there as we're very stuck with where to relocate to and need to decide fairly soon. Grateful for any advice. Thanks so much.

Hi Phaeth, I don’t have direct experience of any of the schools but live in Haslemere. My kids have gone to one of the local private schools and there has been quite a few who have joined from Weydon. The impression I have is that because it is large the more sensitive ones have got a bit lost. Woolmer Hill does seem to be smaller and a bit more nurturing - and if you are in Haslemere there is also the possibility of Bohunt (again pretty big but has a good reputation). It might be worth posting on the local Haslemere facebook site to get some more specific feedback. There are obviously other factors you might want to take into account when you are choosing where to move to. Good luck!

Thanks for your reply, interesting to read I think posting on the Haslemere FB group is a very good idea. Even though it's a little way off I'm very daunted by the prospect of a large secondary for her and unf private isn't possible for us so will do a bit more digging!

One smaller school in that area which has very much changed over the last decade is Broadwater in Godalming. It has now got a great reputation both academic and pastoral as well as excellent clubs offered. Definitely worth checking out

One of the reasons Woolmer Hill is smaller than you might expect is because in the past it had a very dodgy reputation. Many Haslemere parents opted for Bohunt instead (which is why that is bigger than you might expect).

The other reason WH is small is because so many children in the area go to private secondary schools!

I hear WH has improved in recent years but don’t know anyone who has children there at the moment and many local parents still seem to prefer Bohunt. I would visit them all and see.

You need to check admissions criteria for those secondaries - Woolmer Hill has feeder schools and now that it has become more popular, you probably won't get in unless you are in a feeder primary school. I think Weydon has feeder schools too. So one consideration is whether there is space in the relevant primaries. Woolmer is part of Weydon academy and its reputation has improved in recent years. As well as the admissions criteria, you can search for secondary allocation outcomes for recent years and it will tell you which admissions criteria places were allocated under and distance from the school for the last place allocated.

Secondary allocation outcomes are now published for Sep 2025 and actually Woolmer this time did allocate places beyond their feeder schools. To get into Weydon you had to be in a partner school and even then the cut off distance was just over 4km.

So helpful everyone, thank you! Was aware of the feeder school system in Surrey and that one often has to be in the "right" primary for your chosen secondary although seems as though there are sometimes exceptions. My son has been allocated a place in a school in Farnham but I wasnt sure about Weydon for my daughter even though there are some spaces potentially in primary feeders as got the impression though excellent it was a highly academic school so could be a lot of study pressure though could be wrong.
I hadn't heard of Broadwater but will look into that, does anyone know how it compares to Rodborough apart from being smaller?

The other school in Farnham - Heath End is good, it’s smaller and I know someone who worked there who said it was nurturing. It gets a bit overlooked in the Weydon mania! The same academy trust now though.

I don’t know Godalming, but would recommend looking a bit further out - Alton has two very good secondaries and they are smaller than Weydon. (Academically both good, depends what you’re looking for, otherwise but parents are very happy with both.) TPS in Petersfield also has an excellent reputation. It does feel a bit more relaxed in Hants with more emphasis on nurture through talking to friends who live over the border so to speak! So if that is important to you then it’s worth a look plus your money goes further!

Thanks for your reply Ionacat, just had a look and Petersfield looks a great school. For various reasons I won't go into here we have to live Surrey as would definitely have considered Hampshire as a place to move to otherwise. I believe however it's possible to cross the border and go to a secondary under a different LA so might look into that.

Weydon is big and I do think this is an issue. In my experience quiet middle of the road kids do get lost, but to be honest, I think it’s an issue with the whole education system, big schools, big classes etc. The education overall is good at Weydon and they get the results but I would add it’s based in a relatively affluent area where some parents can also afford tutoring. Why not contact the school and arrange a tour. People will have different experiences based on their individual children.