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

My two children both go to the Crypt grammar, which being south Gloucester pulls a lot of kids from Swindon/cirencester/Bristol with good transport networks to those places. We’ve found it an excellent school

I hadn't thought about that particularly. But I'll certainly take a look. House prices seem more reasonable there, which is a definite bonus considering where we're moving from!

Cricklade is teeny tiny with almost nothing in it, Cirencester would be much nicer to live in, if you pick the local schools.
The Cheltenham grammars draw kids from Swindon and beyond so maybe very competitive to get in to, and the Stroud comp had a terrible reputation last i heard.
Malmesbury is lovely and the school is very desirable, so worth a look. But is small and has less to offer than Cirencester.

Swindon isn't on anyone's list to move to, but it's well situated to get out of! Into the Cotswolds, Malborough, Bath and Bristol. The Commonwealth School in Swindon old town is worth a look at. You'll get more house for your money too.

I would say deer park would be brilliant if that’s what you would like.
It’s a brilliant school, I haven’t heard a word against it! I grew up in Cirencester and loved it.. we could go to Cheltenham on the bus easily if fancied somewhere bigger.

That you very much everyone - you’ve given me a lot to think about, and lots of new ideas. It’s very daunting relocating with children but you’ve reassured me that we could find a good school and a great area to live

Definitely Stroud high school. It’s a lovely school.

As I said before Deer park is a proper comprehensive and has a good reputation as such so shouldn’t be compared with Balcarras or LHS which are essentially private schools by house price/postcode.

Someone else mentioned The Cotswold school which is excellent but you’d need to be the other side of Cirencester pushing more towards Northleach to get in. You are unlikely to get in from Cirencester.

You also mentioned Northleach and Cricklade …..both are lovely but they are full of older people and there isnt much for teenagers and they are pretty isolated. You’d be lucky to get to bus to Cheltenham twice a day! Northleach has a couple of nice pubs and a wine bar which is a bit of a noughties throw back but not much else.

The commute from Cheltenham to Swindon is a whole different ball game than Cirencester to Swindon. They are building the by pass out by Birdlip which will improve it by 2027 but you have still got to get out of Cheltenham (shocking traffic) and to the new by pass bit which is 45 mins from Charlton kings & probably more from Leckhampton in rush hours.

I have a child at Deer Park and one starting in September. We really like it. It's a classic comprehensive with high expectations. Good mix of kids and lots of engaged parents. My child has excelled there so far. We live in Stroud where there is actually more for teens to do than in Cirencester with the Cinema and bowling but it's pretty easy to go between the two.

There are Stroud kids who go to Deer Park and Ciren kids who go to the Grammars. Everyone gets the bus. There is a great choice of schools round here so you just have to find the one that suits your family.

Deer Park catchment is massive so I imagine you'd have a much better choice of housing than the Cheltenham schools. Also if you live in Ciren/Stroud and want to visit Cheltenham it's only a 30min bus ride.

I have a dd at Stroud high - great school. Friends at Deer Park (good) and Malmesbury (really good - people move there) and Kingshill (not so good). All the schools are well served by buses and Ciren is a great size for teens, kids from different schools seem to mix well, can easily get bus to Cheltenham.
Stroud High is well worth doing some 11+ preparation for - it’s basically like a free academic independent girls day school. Not so much to get ‘cleverer’ but to get used to the exam format and ensure that you’ve covered all the y6 maths. I don’t know anyone who didn’t do some preparation. CGP books over the summer hols would be a start. If your dc is ‘ on the top table’ it’s well worth going for it IME.
Cheltenham to Swindon commute would be a pain. Cotswold school is very good too but you would need to live somewhere more rural to get in and do a lot more driving around of dcs!!!

I would just like to clarify re the pp's comment that Stroud high is like an academic independent girls school. From an academic point of view it may well be, obviously not from a facilities point of view. The grammars Inc SHS are in general a lot more ethnically diverse than Chelt / ciren comps. They also have a wide range of income families which you wouldn't see in an independent school. So overall quite a diverse range of bright kids.

Yes that’s true glos. There are lots of extra curricular things too.

It does sound like somewhere we should try for, with Deer Park and Malmsbury as great alternatives if she’s not successful. I think the 11+ applications open soon so I think we’ll apply. It’s good to know that Coren can be good for teens, irrespective of the school they go to. We’ve found it really nice living within walking distance of her current friends and so Cirencester could be a strong contender. Thank you

Adding in Fairford and Farmors school for a good Swindon commute too!
Or Chippenham schools ( but the town has less than Cirencester for teens)

Just as a comment on the intakes pf different schools (based on the percentage if children eligible for Free School Meals):

Stroud High has the lowest % FSM (3.9%). This is typical of the Gloucestershire grammars, all of which have an intake skewed towards more privileged families.

Next is Balcarras, at 6%.

Then High School Leckhampton , at 9%.

Then Deer Park at 13.9%.

National average is 24.6%, so in fact all of these schools have socio-economically advantaged intakes (not just Balcarras / HSL) relative to the national picture.

Worth noting that only Stroud High and Balcarras have 6th form provision- if you do go for Deer Park (which seems sensible for commute reasons) then a good number move to Balcarras for 6th form each year, while a number of Balcarras students looking for vocational 16-18 options move to Cirencester College.

Can I just add that Farmor’s school in Fairford is great, don’t be put off by ofsted report. I live in Swindon and love it. It has a bad reputation but is actually great. I wouldn’t want to commute from Cheltenham every day but Cirencester is doable. Tadpole Garden Village in north Swindon is worth a look.
and to correct the autocorrect above the school in Swindon Old town is Commonweal.

I’m sure my kids would vote to live in Tadpole Garden Village 😂Such an awesome name!

Is the catchment area for Balcarras 6th form SAS small as for lower school? Can kids get in from Cirencester?

6th forms have no catchment, and so there’s a lot of movement at that stage, especially as some of the schools have larger cohorts at 6th form than up to GCSE.

You can also hold several offers and just decide after GCSE results day where you want to go. Only barrier may be cost of transport, vs walking to the most local option.

The thing with the sixth form is that most of the spaces go to their own pupils, not that many left for outsiders and those are always over subscribed.

However, the number of ‘external’ places is limited, and existing students get ‘first dibs’ if they meet the entry requirements (GCSE 3x5s 2x6s iirc, with some restrictions for certain subjects).

Oversubscription criteria for 6th form are here: https://www.balcarras.gloucs.sch.uk/site/data/files/users/13/B54FA7D3D7749948A72680D87341C0BC.pdf

Note that home address is not a criterion.

Another couple of things to think about:

• Because of families moving into the catchment for secondary entry, good primaries near to Balcarras are often very full in the older years. It may not be possible to get both children into the same or neighbouring schools.
• Do either of your children have specific interests or aptitudes - music, sport, dance etc etc? With its larger size, and affluent population, Cheltenham is very well served for high-quality provision of all kinds, Cirencester less so.
• That said, commute time is a real consideration - for that alone I’d suggest Cirencester over Cheltenham at this point.

Excellent point about the primary schools. I’d never thought of that.

My eldest loves drama/theatre and is a huge reader. Not sure if there’s one that might suit her more…?

Excellent point about the primary schools. I’d never thought of that.

My eldest loves drama/theatre and is a huge reader. Not sure if there’s one that might suit her more…?

Have you looked at Malmesbury? Easy commute to Swindon and the school is Ofsted rated Outstanding. Easy journey into Bristol, Cirencester, Bath, Chippenham from there.

(edit - sorry seen it’s been mentioned above!)