We anticipate moving back to the UK within the next couple of years ..but where to!?

Schooling is the vital decider - looking for both senior and junior independent schools (mixed/not academic hot houses/normal families (!)/strong in drama/dance/music)/good pastoral care/educating kids to think etc ...
Currently pouring over the Good School Guide and RightMove.

Reasonable proximity to Gatwick/Heathrow necessary. Current thinking is somewhere in the triangle of Reading/Guildford/Beaconsfield but then someone today suggested Hove.

Please could you share thoughts on areas if you have the time and inclination. We have friends in the South and no immediate family in the UK anymore so no strong ties to any location though the South makes sense (I'm originally from North of York so anything South of there makes me feel claustrophobic)

Many thanks, MS

Guildford - Church's school or Bedales.

Not too sure what you mean by 'independent' schools, are you talking about fee paying schools?

State schools, due to the massive cuts in funding by the present government are finding they are having to stop the drama/dance/music classes as they can't afford to pay the teachers to take classes that do not help their Ofsted ratings.

Thank you both.
Mikelincs - sorry, yes I do mean fee paying.

It depends what you mean by "Reasonable proximity to Gatwick/Heathrow" as within say one hour, restricts you to some pretty pricey housing, and equally pricey schools. Stretch the time to two hours and it brings in places as far away as Dorset, Somerset, Gloucestershire, and most of the midlands.

I live near Reading, and used to live near Beaconsfield, so know both areas very well (not Guildford though).

I love where we live now, 20 mins to Heathrow T5, 30 mins train to London for hubby who commutes every day, our kids are at amazing schools particularly my daughter's secondary school (class sizes of 17ish, language immersion program, rock climbing for PE, scuba diving, a STEM school - she wants to be a vet so it suits her perfectly, etc). Wokingham is known for its excellent schools though so we're very lucky here.

But we live quite rurally and in a very safe area (we rarely lock our cars etc), so I think we have the best of both worlds.

We moved here because we just couldn't afford what we wanted in Bucks - to give you an idea of how expensive the Beaconsfield area is, we sold a 1970's hideous 160sqm house with a postage stamp garden on an estate, and for £50k more we bought a 6 bed Grade II* listed Georgian farmhouse 3 times the size with a couple of acres. Other things are cheaper here too, for example my daughter always wanted to ride but at £25-30 for a group lesson it wasn't possible in Bucks. In Berks we were astonished to find it was £10 for a private lesson, and she's now been riding for 6 years and has her own pony.

Happy to help if you have any specific questions, we did look at private schooling too, my daughter was offered a couple of scholarships but actually decided against it for a couple of reasons.

Good luck with the move.

Thank you both. Pulaski ... will add to my research list! Christmasoompa - I have pm'd you.

It will largely depend on budget, both for housing and the school. If you have a large enough budget, the Windsor would be an option. Very close to Heathrow and has a number of very good private schools, including one of the most famous - Eton on the other side of the river. But, housing is very expensive.

I live in South Buckinghamshire bordering Oxfordshire and Berkshire in a town on the Thames in the Chilterns and it is a lovely area with good schools and lots for families to do. You have the M4 and M40 with easy access to Heathrow. However as others have said you need a big budget for housing.

South, South, South all the way!!! We live in Southanpton (not in the city, just on the outskirts, 15 minute drive from home to the city centre). Love it here. Peaceful, wonderful primary school my little one is currently at, you have the New Forest on your doorstep, Bournemouth beach, Sandbanks, Isle of Wight for a nice day trip, Southampton airport 10 minutes away, buses and trains, lots of supermarkets, we have TK Maxx, Home Sense, Next, a huge sainsburys and marks and Spencers within waking distance, central London is an hour and a half away, Hearhrow and Gatwivk not much over an hour, there's Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth for great shopping outlets with restaurants along the water front, there's cinemas and bowling and restaurants within 10-15 minutes away (nice big cinema and bowling and some nice restaurants in Eastleigh which is less than 10 minutes away). We're on the edge of the city but on the edge of the countryside at the same time. There's parks and woods and then there's west wittering which is a beautiful sandy beach (google it). Has a pebble beach section to it too. You really couldn't ask for a better place to live if you ask me!
Would love to know where you're moving from and why if you don't mind me being nosy. My husband is American and we've lived over there and travelled extensively. We talked about living there again in order to buy a house, rent it out and move back to the uk so we could get a retirement nest egg going but looking into it we don't think we could ever go back as we'd lose too much here. So I love to hear other people's stories!

Lived in Wallingford & Didcot for 4 yrs, 30 mins form Reading & Oxford (in the middle of the two) & less than an hour from LHR depending on traffic. Nice area & handily located, although not up to speed on the schools as we didn't have kids back then.........!

Depending upon the OP's exact need for LHR and Gatwick, Eastleigh airport has a decent amount of flights to Schiphol and a few other places shorthaul.

Sorry been off board for a few days! Thank you so much for all your replies ... so many lovely places to consider ... my list is getting longer! Budget - don't think it would stretch to either Eton or Windsor. As long as we are approx. an hour or less drive from LHR and/or Gatwick for international flights.

ABD79 - to answer your why .... been in the UAE for 8 years and it is very much time (in our opinion) to live in an environment where friends don't move on quite as frequently as happens here. My teenager particularly has 'lost' so many friends and it is difficult. We also yearn for greenery over sand and cold over heat (clocked 50 degrees last week on my car outside temp reading.) Education is also a strong motivator but there are many more - the list of 'pros' is definitely longer than the list of 'cons' now.

We will explore all the areas mentioned ... many, many thanks again.
MS

Wow that is hot. Yes I think the south would be great for you. Anywhere around the outskirts of Southampton because you have easy access to London and Heathrow/Gatwick by train or car (I know a lot of people who commute to London by train for work), and if you travel just 15 minutes outside Southampton city centre you're in the countryside. Where I live is built up residentially with maybe 30 shops (the usual, M&S, sainsburys, TK Maxx, Next, B&Q, Curry's, Starbucks etc....so everything you need basically), but 2 minutes away by car and you're in the country with miles and miles of nothing but fields. Then you have other cities so close like Bournemouth, Portsmouth etc. Beaches and the New Forest. So good luck with your move...I hope it all goes well! It at least must have been an incredible experience living out there. If you ever have a second and want to reply I'd love to hear what it's like. I love hearing people's stories of where they are in the world. Best wishes and good luck.

Southsea.

Nice coastal town and adjacent to Portsmouth (Gunwharf etc). More affordable than London-commuter-distance towns you have mentioned.

Portsmouth Grammar or several other pay-schools.

35 mins to Eastleigh airport for Europe flights.

1hr 15mins to LHR or Gatwick