AnnaDXB

After 15 years of being abroad we are returning to UK and I’m trying to sort schools out for my son - going into sixth form and daughter going into year 8 (next September). I’m looking at Kent/Surrey/Bucks so a wide demographic!! I realize that state schools will not be possible as we don’t have a property and will have to rent when we return next summer and the state schools require addresses. So can anyone recommend any good (but not extortionate) private schools and affordable but nice areas to live. Any advice really welcome, I’m struggling!!!

christmasoompa

No idea on Surrey or Kent I'm afraid, but I lived in Bucks for a heck of a long time......not sure anywhere is 'affordable' there! We moved to Berkshire to get more for our money, sold our teeny weeny 1970's house on an estate with a postage stamp garden and bought a 6 bed farmhouse with acres for the same money. Kent will be the cheapest by a long way out of the three counties you've mentioned.

Depends on what you count as affordable though I guess, if you can give people more info on what you're after (amenities, do you need to commute and if so where to, budget, etc) then I'm sure people can suggest some areas that may work.

Good luck with the move.

BritInParis

Renting a property doesn’t preclude you from sending your children to a state school.

Take a look at High Wycombe if you want somewhere relatively affordable.

nks900

Hi Anna, even though we are MM2H in Malaysia, since the arrival of our grandchildren, we return to stay in UK quite frequently as we never sold our UK house in St Albans, Hertfordshire (Herts.). There will be pockets of affordable areas in all the counties you mentioned, in particular, Bucks is very popular as many Grammar schools still exists.

Education:..... Always wanting to play the Politically Correct card, majority of STATE schools will not tell you the percentage of students not having English as their first and dominant language. Thus the higher the immigrant status percentage in a school, generally, the more it has to spend its budget on additional teaching assistants and other sources. Therefore less in other educational areas. State schools avoid dealing with beheavioural issues - lack of resources, extremely young graduate teachers lacking experience, etc etc - many "spectrum" students go unchecked. As we know, tense, unsettled, unhappy children will not study well.

Both my grown-up children who benefited from private schooling, on principle, sent their children to a (good OFSTED standard) state primary school in St Albans, Herts. with a very low number of immigrant students. My grandchildren performed dismally to the point where my daughter removed her 10 year old daughter in order to Home-School, whereupon having attained the required standard was able to gain academic entrance to a private school. The other 3 grandchildren also went through this route. Had the 4 grandchildren stayed on in their St Albans school, they would definitely not have been able to gain entry into a sufficiently high-standard secondary State school (who now performs Entrance exams (at 11 years old) to cream off the best students). Without good 6th form results, there wont be a chance to enter a red-brick uni (ie Oxford, Cambridge, Durham etc)

Do pardon my long-winded tale above. But it is a good example of choosing very very carefully.... St Albans is a fairly expensive place to live - bankers, stockbrokers, middle management, that sort of place - but even so, the School did not fare well.

Where, affordable, to live?...... as another commented, it all depends on what amenities you want? Or what standard of abode you aspire to?? £350K-£600K three beds terraced in a Town with good transport, shops, post office, sports amenities, or 3 beds cottage with lovely gardens in a Miss Marple village - maybe no shops, 1 post box and just a lovely pond & church, that will set you back £750k-ish!

Englishmum