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

We hadn’t originally considered it, because my family live just north of Oxford, but it’s definitely worth looking at - thank you. Much more house for your money there too

Thank you again everyone - such helpful thoughts. It's been so useful to chat, and I'm feeling quite positive about things. It seems like we will have a great range of schools to choose from

The commute should improve in a couple of years when the road is finished though.

I like both towns for different reasons, but I'm sure teens would prefer Cheltenham. I'd pick Leckhampton over Charlton Kings personally. I also like Shurdington, which I think might be within the Leckhampton School Catchment (not sure as mine are still primary age). As PO said there are also grammar school options.

What makes you say Leckhampton over Balcarras? Just area or do you prefer the school?

Another local resident chipping in. If I had to choose between Leckhampton and Charlton Kings to commute to Swindon every day, I'd go for Leckhampton as well! Depending on where you live, there's easy access to the hill too.
LHS IIRC is planning to open a sixth form once its first intake reaches yr12 - it's a new school and the oldest students are only in yr10.
Tbh though, there's only one school that many people in Cheltenham actively avoid, and if you're looking over towards Leckhampton/CK/Shurdington/Hatherley way, you'd have to be extremely unlucky and only put 1-2 choices on your form (you get 5) to be allocated it.
As a teen/pre-teen, Cheltenham has more going on as well as a larger place.

Slight derail but I am interested in where you heard about a Sixth Form at Leckhampton High. I have friends there, they are at the end of Year 10 and no sign of a sixth form yet. They are a little worried as Balcarras already had a lot of pressures on it to take external candidates for Sixth Form.

If I was selecting on school only, I would choose Balcarras. Selecting based on commute as well, I would go Cirencester. Cirencester College is a good sixth form provision and I think the Ciren schools are both good enough.
Cotswold school is excellent, not sure about catchment for that.

I don’t think that HSL is intended to have a sixth form: the Gloucestershire CC page about its permission spoke of an eventual 6-form entry 11-16 school with a final capacity of 900 (30x6 multiplied by 5 years).

https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/education-and-learning/school-planning-and-projects/cheltenham-school-places/the-high-school-leckhampton/#:~:text=The%20school%20opened%20to%20Year,an%20eventual%20capacity%20of%20900.

Unless there has been an additional consultation and permission since then, I think that (like Pittville and Winchcombe) it will remain 11-16.

My concern for future pupils would not necessarily be total number of 6th form places but that Balcarras might favour students from not only its own Y11 but also the 11-16 schools within its MAT for 6th form entry - currently Winchcome and HSL but Pittville has long had informal links and these may become more formal if the current Head leaves.

I was mistaken @SomersetBrie, sorry. I'll be honest it's been a long while since I read the permission documents!
I read the latest consultation on Balcarras admissions, apparently they considered adding a criteria for HSL and Winchcombe but were advised it would be against the admissions code, so non-Balcarras places are going to be prioritised by distance. You can read the consultation from this page.

Ah, that’s interesting and an interesting change from current practice.

Apologies, as the information I gave upthread is outdated and superceded by @scissy ’s post.

I just did some practice 11+ questions with my daughter and they are pretty hard! I have 2 undergrad degrees and 2 post grad degrees and I found quite a few of the questions challenging! She did better than me though - she loved the puzzles and code breaking questions but we were both exhausted after a couple of hours. I kinda want to take the test myself now to see if I would come close to passing! 🤓i hope lessons at grammar school wouldn’t be quite so challenging!!

The Gloucestershire 11+ is on the year 6 curriculum that they haven't studied yet, so it is hard for them. Most kids taking it will have had tutoring through year 5, for that reason. Many find the time pressure difficult. It's competitive and kids come from all over the country to go to some of the Gloucestershire grammars. Not that many local kids get in. I believe only a few % but happy to be corrected. State schools, Balcarras and Leckhampton both have excellent reputations. If we were in the catchments we wouldn't bother with 11+.

I think it’s looking tricky for me to live in south Cheltenham and commute to Swindon, so I’m probably having to look at state secondaries in south Gloucestershire (Deer Park or Malmsbury) rather than Leckhampton or Balcarras. Unless of course we rent in the catchment area and then buy a house further south later (but then my 2nd daughter wouldn’t get an place). Very tricky when we can’t really get down to visit schools and see which we like the feel of. I thought my daughter did pretty well on the practice 11+ questions but I’ve got nothing to benchmark her against as everyone rise might be heavily tutored as you say and be scoring 100%. So hard to know what is right. I like the look of Malmsbury but their website says they allow kids to use their mobile phones in school and that is a bit of a red line for me - everywhere else says they’re phone-free and that is very important to us. Really tricky

After I posted this last night I looked into Gloucestershire 11+ and it says you need to get 75% plus in the test to pass, if that helps. Although sounds like your thinking has moved on.

Passing doesn’t mean you get a place though, it just means you are ranked, and then they offer places to the top 400 ish people.

It isn't that hard to pass the 11+ in Gloucestershire, especially for girls (more spaces available). I think there are roughly 2 girl candidates for every girl place.
I wouldn't base too much on school phone policy. Schools are constantly changing their policies on this.

No I think she still wants to try the exam. I struggle to make any decisions 😂

Gloucestershire issues the 11+ results just before the final deadline for secondary applications so taking the test doesn't commit you to applying for a grammar.

I just saw that registrations are open now for the 11plus for 2026 start. A couple of tips - it doesn't matter which school you sit it at - choose the most convenient. Share results with all schools - it doesn't affect anything but keeps your options open.
Also there are various companies that offer practice tests under exam conditions. It might be worth trying to book one of these just for the experience.

Thank you. We’ve just started Atom learning but I didn’t realise the registration was already open. Thank you! I guess sitting it doesn’t commit us to grammar, but just give us more options. She’s done brilliantly with the logic questions but is getting upset when she makes a silly mistake. I’ll see how she goes - hard to know whether to keep gently encouraging her, or whether the stress will be too much. I want to give her the opportunity to flourish but most importantly I want her to love school, not find it a constant source of stress.

If it is reassuring, there is very little correlation between ‘high scores in 11+’ ( or indeed lower scores within the range for admission) and longer term academic position within the grammar school.

A child who is trainable enough and bright enough to pass (especially without extreme tutoring) will do fine - the National Curriculum is, after all, National, so although some material may be covered at a faster pace, teaching styles may be quite traditional and there may be relatively little differentiation, the grammar will be teaching the same ‘stuff’ as comprehensives.

The children I have known to struggle at grammars have been ultra-coached naturally middle ability children who have been unable to maintain that level of ‘overwork’ across the full curriculum.

Should have clarified ‘struggled academically’.

A number of children have struggled emotionally and in terms of self-esteem if they have always been lauded and have built their self-image as ‘the really clever one’ in primary / by parents. Finding themselves as ‘more average’ can be liberating but can also be quite crushing to the fragile.

That’s a really interesting point and something to consider. Is it better to be near the top of the pile in a non-selective school, or the middle/bottom of the pike in a selective school. I guess each parent had to weigh that up carefully for their child

I think it is more subtle than that.

My observation of those who struggle is that it is not about their ‘actual’ ability, but about how they regard, or have been encouraged to regard, their ability and how much it defines their identity.

So if you have two equally able children, but one has been amongst a large cohort of peers of ‘generally quite similar’ ability, and has been encouraged by parents and school and outside school hobbies to think of themselves as kind / sporty / helpful / responsible / funny; while the other has been perhaps a ‘stand out’ amongst a different peer group, had limited non-academic hobbies and been continually described as clever / brilliant / academic, it nay be that the latter will struggle more with the concept of being ‘high average in a very high achieving cohort’?

It will also depend on general resilience / competitiveness / robustness, and on the school ethos - some very superselective schools do fetishise high academic attainment to a degree that can be a little odd!

Thank you all.

We went to have a look at the area and really like it. So many beautiful places.

We drove out to Stroud to look at Stroud High but were sadly quite put off by the long drive (thinking of winter) and we didn’t warm particularly to the area. DD is registered for the 11+ but we all came away feeling deflated and unenthusiastic, which wasn’t how we expected to feel.

We loved the “feel” around Farmors (useful for Swindon and lovely primary school on same site for younger sibling) but their results are not as good as some of the other schools. DD heard about their therapy dog though and is now campaigning for that school!

Deer Park looked great and we loved Cirencester. Looked like a really good option with lots of extra-curricular activities.

Malmsbury felt a bit far south for OH’s liking but I still like the school’s reputation.

We didn’t drive up to the Cotswold School but it sounds amazing on paper. Would be keen to hear what sort of atmosphere the school has? We want a solid academic school but a kind nurturing school with varied opportunities is also hugely important.

Now I feel even more confused! But also really encouraged. So much to think about. Might try to get down for some open days but trying to choose from so far away is tricky. I am so grateful for any insights anyone can offer. Thank you