Advice needed on Winchester / Hampshire secondaries

[Ownthemoment]

Hi there,
We are planning to relocate from overseas and are likely to settle in the Winchester area - primarily for its excellent school options and proximity to family. Our children haven’t lived in the UK before so we are looking for a school with a welcoming, nurturing ethos where they could settle and make friends quickly. Good sport would be a bonus! My eldest would be going into secondary school and we love the look of King’s and Westgate (but are open to all options). I know Winchester schools are all extremely popular and it might be difficult to get places, but would love any insight that this group could offer nonetheless so we can start honing in on catchment areas a bit! Thanks so much

I don’t know the area but do you know which year your DC will be going into? It depends on their age and when in the year they were born (school year is Sept to Aug in England).

I assume the application will be for an in-year place as opposed to applying for a year 7 place in October of year 6? If so, it may be dependent on which schools have a space in the relevant year. If you can give a bit more info around school year local MNers may have some intel.

My info is slightly old now, but in general all 3 (you didn't list HenryB) are v good, (as is Perrins to the north and the 2 Romsey schools). From Winchester the vast majority will end up at Peter Symonds for 6th form anyway.
Kings used to stream from the start, but that is 15years ago now.

Thanks so much - she’d be going into year 8, so it would definitely be an in-year place. As it would be for her younger siblings in primary. Great to know about Henry B, Perrins and the Romsey options - I’ll look at these too.

I second Perins as a good option close to Winchester.

I can vouch for Swanmore near Bishops Waltham. Rated in the top ten Hampshire schools.

Thorndean also very popular and good reputation.

Your best bet is to phone Hampshire admissions and find out where there are spaces. Then you can start to narrow down from there. Essentially all the schools are good, but you don’t want to be miles away with a nightmare journey across Winchester in rush hour traffic.

Westgate is the best secondary in Winchester I think

Pretty much all the schools are good, but I would advise going for one close to where you live. Traffic in Winch is a nightmare! And do watch for the catchment areas, some are quite small. Failing that there are loads of excellent private schools in the New Forest all with amazing facilities.

I am a secondary school teacher and resident of Winchester.

If I could pick one school for my own kids, Westgate.

If I had to avoid one. Kings. (Or Thornden from the extended area.)

For a good school from the surrounding area, Mountbatten in Romsey is excellent.

If you are looking at surrounding areas avoid Whitchurch. Lovely little town but Testbourne is dreadful. Bullying SLT. Their treatment of children with SEN is verging on barbaric. Multiple parents have complained to Ofsted and at least one has taken them to court for disability discrimination, yet still they continue. Many have moved their children to Henry B and they are now thriving there. Good luck with the search.

Just to add, my son is in his final year at Henry B and we are now looking at colleges. Not sure how soon this will be relevant for you but Peter Symonds in Winchester is an excellent college, however not that great if your child is struggling or has SEN. QMC in Basingstoke has great pastoral support though so that’s where he will most likely go.

Also a shout to Stockbridge, beautiful place, awful school. Fromerly Test Valley, now Danebury. Seriously, read Test Valley's last Ofsted report.

https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50201255

My son went to Henry B, his girlfriend - Kings, and they rated them both. Both went onto Peter Symonds

Hi, any chance you could give me any more information about a couple of the schools you mentioned? I'd be really interested to hear the reasons behind your opinions. Happy for you to PM me if you'd prefer.

We're struggling to choose between Kings' and Mountbatten to apply to (and have a very good chance of getting into either after discussions with the admissions teams). My gut/heart is saying Kings' due to the feel we got on the open morning, the behaviour of the children we saw, extra-curriculars available, and results; however Mountbatten is nearer, is also well respected, and doesn't restrict GCSE choices quite as much from what I can see, it just really didn't sell itself well during the open morning (a glaring spelling error in the headteacher's presentation, poor organisation, and unprepared shy Year 8s showing us around). Mountbatten just didn't seem to have much soul and the students didn't seem proud of their school in the way the Kings' students were (helped by the fact we mainly interacted with Year 11 prefects there though I know). It's become a bit of a head/heart decision and just trying to get as much information about the two schools as I can to help - you can only get so much from open mornings/evenings! If it makes a difference we're looking for somewhere that will stretch an academic (non-sporty) boy, who should have the potential to get top GCSE grades, but struggles with organisation, focus, and working quickly. Thanks!

I worked at Mountbatten during my initial training. The very definition of an Ofsted outstanding School. Clearly, things can change over time (I'm now a Deputy HOY and Teacher at a school in Basingstoke... So that shows it's been a little while) but nothing I hear contradicts my own experiences.

Kings.... Staff turnover issues, lots of cover in the subject I teach and grapevine discussions do not put it into a good light. They survive on the strength of their cohort which is fundamentally intelligent and aspirational. I place it third out of three in the city.

'The very definition of an Ofsted outstanding school'

Not sure if that is meant to be a positive comment or not?!

When we were looking for schools 15 years ago or so we looked round both Mountbatten and Romsey. They were very different in ethos but with similar results.

Absolutely meant to be positive. I think extremely highly of the place.

@InOverMyHead84 Curious why not Thornden? It's always been the top school??

That was the worst month i've had teaching there, comparing Thorndon to Mountbatten in my subject was like contrasting Champagne with Lambrini.

They recently went from Ofsted Outstanding to Good. Not in itself a tragedy but it entirely undermined the position they held subcontracting their own teaching practice to other schools in the area...... Even though the teachers within the school didn't follow what they were palming out.

Another school where the cohorts ability covered a multitude of teaching practice shortfalls. There was a fundamental arrogance in the staff which was detrimental to what they are there to do. When the Ofsted grading happened, there was a very large turnover in their leadership staff, heads rolled.

I am currently tutoring a student at Thornden, it's way better then their last School (Toynbee) and would see a child right, but it's not a the pedagogical epicentre it claims to be.

Mountbatten is not good for SEN in my experience, and curriculum is very restricted at GCSE - everything is exam based, no choice of languages in lower school and they don't communicate well about anything. No idea where you live where you have been told you stand a good chance of getting into both King's and Mountbatten? I don't think that can be true - I would check the admissions data online although this is a bit confusing with Mountbatten because of the strange split catchment arrangement.

Hi
i am living Basingstoke.my child is now year 5.i would like to apply best secondary school in Winchester.is there any grammar school?which school is best?most of said Basingstoke didn

I tnink I am correct in saying that there are no state grammar schools in Hampshire. The nearest grammar schools to Basingstoke would be Kendrick (girls) and Reading (boys) in Reading, both with oversubscrition criteria which render it difficult, if not unheard of, to get in from outside of their respective designated catchment areas, so you would have to check their websites to see whether your address would be within catchment. The admissions policies for 2027 entry will be published on the schools' websites in March. Reading school is currently consulting on some changes to its policy for 2027 /2028, so you can see its proposed policy for that year on its website now. In the event that the new proposed new policy isn't implemented, you can also see the policy for 2026 entry there.

If you specifically want / need to.move to Winchester, though, then obviously grammar schools in Reading wouldn't be much use.

There aren’t any grammar schools in Hampshire. You would need to check the priority areas for Kendrick and Reading to see if your postcode fits in. They are very competitive and if your postcode isn’t in priority one or two, then you won’t get a place. (I’m fairly sure they took out central Basingstoke a while ago.)

It’s not clear whether you are intending go move to Winchester or just commute from Basingstoke. If you are intending to commute, then the last distances are published on Hampshire’s website so you can see which schools you have a chance of getting into. I believe there’s a school bus from Basingstoke to Perins (Alresford) and I know quite a few also go into Alton. If you are going to move, then check admission policies carefully as Westgate prioritises from its feeder primary so you need to make sure you are in the right catchment.

You will need to be realistic unless you are moving there. All the secondaries in Winchester, Alton and Alresford are good, and all of them have students that get top grades and head off to the likes of Peter Symonds or QMC in Basingstoke. It is very much a case of working out which schools you have a chance of getting into and then what will suit your child. I know Basingstoke schools can be patchy, but some are on the up and it is worth visiting and making up your own mind.

No Grammar schools in Hampshire. They are all comprehensive and reflect the area they are in.
You can try from Basingstoke for any school you wish but it will come down to distance. The Catholic school is Basingstoke is meant to be very good!
So have a look at your local schools first.
Winchester schools do well mostly because of the high achieving families within catchment.