Cheltenham/Balcarras-Leckhampton schools vs Cirencester/Deer Park school

[Felissia2011]

I might be moving jobs to work in Swindon. I have two girls aged 6 & 10.

I'm trying to decide if my soon-to-be-teen would be better living in Cheltenham and going to Balcarras or Leckhampton school (both have a great reputation) or whether quieter Cirencester life and Deer Park school might suit us better.

Having never had a teenager before, and knowing very little about either school or area, I'd be grateful for your thoughts on what each is like.

I love green and peaceful places to live, but with some walkable amenities, but I'm not sure how well this quieter life works with teenagers. Is there enough for teenagers to do in Cirencester (closer to my work) or could I find some nice green and peaceful places to live in Cheltenham - a longer commute for me but might give my girls a better school and more to do growing up? Thankfully we could probably afford to live in either area.

Thank you for your thoughts

Charlton Kings might be a good compromise of the two? Cirencester is lovely but not much going on for teens. Charlton Kings has a secondary school (Balcarras School- rated outstanding), a village feel with pubs and cafes, lots of green spaces, but is only a 10 minute drive/20 minute walk into Cheltenham centre so best of both worlds. There are lots of properties on the market at the moment in the area.

Leckhampton and Charlton King's are both good areas, both are close to Countryside. In Leckhampton you will be able to get up on the hill (fab walks), same with Charlton Kings as well. The new Leckhampton high school soul ds great from what I'm hearing. Balcarras has always had a good reputation.
Cirencester is a lovely town but probably not as fun for a teen as Cheltenham. I don't know anything about Deer Park.

Having lived in both, I’d much prefer Cirencester and surrounding villages as a place to live (& more accessible for Swindon)

Cheltenham town centre is dying … the shops are dire and it’s getting worse since the closure of the big House of Frazer on the prom. Other than festival weeks (of which there are a few - jazz, music, literature, science), which are great; Cheltenham is basically a retirement town full off over 70’s.

Charlton kings is tiny - and property is hugely expensive (due to Balcarras catchment area being the size of a postage stamp). It’s two streets - 20 mins walk apart with a couple of cafes and not very great pubs. The appeal is the school.

Cirencester is imo a much better town. Lovely restaurants, pubs and cafes and a reasonable selection of independent shops.

BUT there is a world of difference between the schools. Deer park is a proper comprehensive. There are a couple of minor private schools around Cirencester that scoop up the more well off and deer park gets the rest…..and it’s definitely a mixed bag.

Balcarras and leckhampton high (both run by Balcarras Multi-academy trust) are both outstanding schools BUT basically because they are private schools by post code. Don’t get me wrong, they are both great - my DD went to Balcarras sixth form along with 80% of her cohort from the private school down the road. You pay a premium property price to get the school. They are about as ‘comprehensive’ as Harrods! They are worlds apart from Deer Park.

I know this isn't quite the area you've mentioned, and I've no idea what the catchment is, but DH grew up in Chedworth and went to The Cotswold School, which I understand is still an excellent (state) school. FiL worked in Swindon. DH did most of his teen debauchery in Stow on the Wold. He was also good at cycling long distances!

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Stroud’s High School for girls is another option, if she passes the 11 plus, but I think it wouldn’t be my first choice of places to live

Sorry - posted twice in error

Sorry posted twice in error

I’d be concerned about the commute from Cheltenham. The A419 gets very congested and slow on the approach to Birdlip with long tailbacks. I know people who’ve left jobs in Swindon because of it.

I lived in Ciren for 8 years and liked it a lot. Much more rural than Cheltenham (I don’t find Charlton Kings very villagey really as has busy traffic). My children were little but both Deer Park and Kingshill had reasonable reputations and you could also get buses to the Stroud schools. Cirencester College (6th form) is also very well regarded.

I would go for Cirencester as the commute is so much better to Swindon.

Thank you - the issue of the commute is really important. I was really impressed with the road from Cirencester to Swindon so didn’t realise it’s so much worse further north

I think road improvements are due at Birdlip or even in progress, which might make a lot of difference going forward. But it’s certainly been slow almost every time I drive along there!

If you think the 11plus might be an option then location is less of an issue for school. My DC have done Tommies, Crypt and Stroud High and have friends who live as far away as Bristol and Swindon. Some schools (Demark Road and possibly Pates) have started to introduce a distance criteria but otherwise entry is entirely on the ranked score in the test.

The road (419/417) is being improved but it's got at least another few years to go before it's finished. In the meantime there's even more disruption than usual.

What did you think of Stroud high? My daughter loves the idea of a girls school. I think she thinks it will be like an Enid Blyton book!

They are cracking on with the new road. It'll be done in less than 2 years . The signs say Spring 2027.

Which school do you think you would choose if you lived in Cirencester? Would you tend to avoid Deer Park? I don’t know anything about the private schools

If it were me, I’d be looking somewhere like Northleach which has access to some good primary schools and The Cotswold School (recently graded as Outstanding by ofstead again) but it also has good access to the road to Swindon with a quick trip down the Fosse Way not going via Birdlip Hill which is where all the congestion is.

My eldest only did 6th form there but I've got friends who've had girls go through the younger years. It's very well regarded - much more so than the boys school next door. Not sure about Enid Blyton though! There are also 2 girls schools in Gloucester (Denmark Road and Ribston) so single sex education isn't that unusual here.

In my, admittedly limited, experience Cirencester parents aspire to Malmesbury.

Both Balcarras and HSL have good reputations (Although note the latter doesn't have a sixth form). However, I wouldn't deliberately give myself such a long commute. I don't think there is so much more in Cheltenham compared to Ciren to justify the extra miles. I can't comment on the Ciren schools but Stroud high is very good, and plenty travel over from Ciren.
If you are looking for somewhere that has a bit more going on, Bath is only 25 mins from Swindon by train, so that could be another option....

We don’t currently live in an 11+ area and so grammar schools are whole new world for us. I’ll definitely take a look at Stroud high but will need to register this month for the 11+

I’ve seen quite a few houses in Northleach and Cricklade - wondering if they’ll be any good for teenagers. They look beautiful though, so I could be persuaded!

I can’t really comment on the schools as we live in a different part of the county and did a mix of private and state schools. I would suggest the commute from Cheltenham to Swindon would be tedious as whenever I take that route for work it’s never great.

I know Cirencester pretty well; I think your DC would easily be able to travel to surrounding towns for entertainment but the town itself is nice and I expect they could find plenty of interests to occupy them. Property is very expensive though and again, traffic can be an annoying issue. It can get easily gridlocked in parts.

I second a previous poster who mentioned Malmesbury. My cousin’s DC went to school there and loved it. They both now commute easily to work in Swindon as adults.

I work at Deer Park. Had a daughter who went to Stroud High. Open days kick off in early Autumn, so visit a few schools. As for the previous reader we have plenty of millionaire parents, but also those with nothing. A lot of our pupils then feed on to the Grammars.

Lots of great grammars in Gloucester too. Wouldn’t bother trying to get into Pates in Cheltenham (unless you have an absolute genius child!) as it’s so oversubscribed and pulls pupils from many other counties.

Thank you - I really like the idea of a diverse school with kids from lots of different backgrounds. I mainly want a kind and nurturing school where my girls can be happy, and helped to be the best version of themselves. I worry slightly about the pressure they might experience at a grammar school, so wouldn't tutor them heavily to get in. If they are naturally bright enough to get a place I imagine they'll do well.