Which state senior schools in Reading - your forthright opinions please!

[shuggiebain]

I am trying to help some friends who are looking to move to Reading. They are a multi-generational Nepalese household. They have lived in the UK for many years but they only speak Nepalese at home and only the mum and the son are really fluent in English. Both parents work. Their budget for a house is around £450K.

The son is about to go into Y5 and is a bright, sporty, sociable and kind child but probably easily led, if he fell in with the wrong peer group. He is doing OK at school but lagging behind a bit in comprehension and writing.

We are focussing on senior schools at the moment and will look at primary schools after that. This is what I've found out based on internet searches. I haven't including Reading School because I'm not sure he would pass the entrance exam.

Some of this information could be hopelessly wrong, so please jump in to put me right, particularly if I have unfairly 'dissed' your school!

Maiden Erlegh: Excellent school but heavily oversubscribed and £450k won't buy you a house close enough to the school to get in.

Highdown School: Another excellent school. Oversubscribed. Somewhat easier to get a house within the right area but may be a stretch at £450K

Maiden Erlegh in Reading: More centrally located, easier to get in but would need to be in a feeder primary school. The area it draws from is less suburban and more gritty urban.

Little Heath School: Good, solid school, over-subscribed but should be OK if they buy a house in the catchment area. £450K is still a bit of a stretch but more realistic than Erlegh or Caversham/Emmer Green.

Denefield: Similar profile to Little Heath but housing in the relevant area is probably more expensive than for Little Heath.

Theale Green: Academics not so strong, great sporting reputation, housing more expensive than Little Heath but less expensive than Denefield.

Hartland: Inadequate Oftsed rating
Oakbank: Inadequate Ofsted rating
Wren: Requires improvement Ofsted rating

I forgot King's Academy Prospect: Good school, but maybe a more challenging cohort of kids than Little Heath or Denefield? Could be wrong - that was something I saw on Reddit!

What about slightly outside the town - Woodley for example has Bulmershe and Waingels, both of which were rated Good at last Ofsted. 450K would get a 3 bed semi.

Reddit has a bumper Moving to Reading thread, have you seen it?

Thank you - that is a really good idea. They are not tied to a particular area of Reading so moving a little way out could get them more for their money and Bulmershe looks particularly good for a sports-mad boy!

Your list is a fair starting map. Maiden Erlegh and Highdown are the ones people usually chase, and you are right that £450k will struggle for a realistic catchment house.
I would not lean too hard on the one-word Ofsted grade. Useful as a flag, but it will not tell you much about a sporty Y5 who could be easily led. That is visit-and-feel stuff, and they have two years before secondary applications. Worth checking last-offer distances on the Reading and Wokingham admissions pages so you know which catchments are actually reachable at that budget.