British Expats - Guildford?

Quote:

Originally Posted by semi-pom (Post 5259957)

Okay, so further to my post below, my next question I have posted as a separate thread. We previously lived in Twickenham but would be keen to move further out of London and initially thought of a move to Tunbridge Wells/Sevenoaks as a good commuter option to London. We are looking for a leafy commuter belt with really good schools.

However, a good friend recently suggested Guildford as a better option since TWells is further away?!. Can anyone give any comments on Guildford and recommend areas and/or good schools in the area? Any info would be very much appreciated.

Cheers,

Semi-pom

Guildford is a lovely town. Opinions on schools are very subjective, however my choice would be Pewley Down Infants, Holy Trinity Junior and then George Abbott secondary. They are considered the best state schools in Guildford and are therefore located in the very expensive part of Guildford town close to the Downs - especially the first two schools for primary school aged children. The catchment area for these schools is also small and very tight. You would need to live close by.

Have a look on websites such as rightmove.co.uk and findaproperty.com and reserach the prices of houses that say 'in the catchment for x school'. Generally if there is no mention of school catchments (for family houses anyhow), it will not be in a location for desirable schools.

You would not get into these (primary) schools being in a village outside Guildford itself.

If house prices put you off (our friends have just sold a 4 bed detached on an excellent road for Â£2m!), have a look at Farnham.

Personally I prefer Farnham to Guildford (more space and smaller thus less traffic), houses are cheaper generally and it has more really good state schools. This is because there are a lot of people in Guildford earning a LOT of money who can afford to go private AND G'ford has top of the league table private schools. The commute to London is longer, but worth it for a more affordable balanced family life.

Do your research though and choose wisely. Aldershot (:ohmy:) & Ash Green don't have a good reputation for schools (although some get into Farnham schools) so if schools are important, I personally wouldn't take any risks with the location of a family home.