Cheltenham Vs Pershore

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Where would you live - Cheltenham or Pershore? If you were working 3 days a week in Worcester Royal Hospital.

I am considering this from secondary education point of view. I am open to private schools but would love if my children got into grammar school.

There's only one grammar school actually in Cheltenham which is Pates Grammar school. This is very selective and pupils travel from some distance away. There are also grammar schools in Gloucester and Stroud.
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Don't know anything about Pershore I'm afraid. However I suspect you have more choice in Cheltenham due to its relative size compared to Pershore.

There are multiple private options if that is your thing. Pates is changing its admissions criteria from 2026 with more priority to Cheltenham residents for some places rather than being purely based on rank. And there are multiple excellent comprehensives in the town. However on that front you do want to pick your area carefully, as some have very strict catchments.

I'd choose one of the hill villages inbetween. Pershore has had huge housing developments but without the infrastructure to support the increase in population.

I live in Pershore, my ds went to the high school, left last July to go to uni. I love living here, and the infrastructure is fine- and way better than being in a village with no resources at all imo. But there is no grammar, and nearest privates are in Worcester (Bowbrook and Brendon excepted).
It’s very easy to get to WRH from here, and a route that is resilient to flooding

Pershore is a lot nearer to Worcester than Cheltenham!

In terms of grammar schools though, you could live between Cheltenham and Gloucester near the M5 and access the Gloucester grammars easily. The only issue with that would be school quality if you didn't get into grammar. Although if you are thinking private then that wouldn't be an issue.

Pershore is a nice town (nicer than Evesham) but I don't know the school situation there at all.

There are some very good private schools around Worcester, Malvern College, RGS Worcester, Kings School Worcester and Bromsgrove School. No state grammars in Worcestershire.
Pershore has a state high school but the best state high school in Worcestershire is in Martley north of Worcester. It has no sixth form but as it’s intake is rural middle class many go onto the private sixth forms ( the Worcester ones are academically selective and require at least 5 grade 6s at GCSE).

DS has a few friends who went to Pershore High school mostly farming community. It’s an affluent area so a lot go to the private schools in Worcester or over to Warwick or Stratford. I don’t think they go south to Cheltenham because of the ample provision locally.

If you are working in Worcester but chose to live in the Birmingham outskirts , workable because of the easy motorway access, you could look at the Birmingham grammar schools.

Just to add both the private schools in Worcester are academically selective with entrance exams. They do offer some scholarships and bursaries usually awarded for academic ability although occasionally for sports ability. Both are city centre and within 10 mins drive of WRI. A lot of Drs at WRI send their children to one or the other. When DS was there there were a large number of professional parents. About a third of his year at prep school were Drs, dentists or solicitors. The rest business owners and a few old money and the odd new money.

I would Google the schools to find out dates for open days. DS’s school always use pupils to do the tours so you can ask them what they think. I dread to think what tales DS told them but he always enjoyed taking part in open days. He had a great time at school because it was a good fit for him, a bit of a sporty geek. Unfortunately the pandemic caused disruption to his year but the school were brilliant. And they were very supportive during sixth form when we had a lot of problems at home. He didn’t achieve his full potential but he did better than expected in his Alevels and that gave him the opportunity to get a place on the course he wanted to take at Uni. He also had the confidence after his gap year to completely change direction and is now doing a course in a subject he would never have considered at A level. I do think that although there is a tendency for all schools to conveyor belt them, his school also encouraged them to step outside their comfort zone. Not necessarily to push themselves but to follow a less traditional path.