House moving

psarinuk

Hi all

Wondering if anyone can help us as we are quite divided in opinions to move house.

We've lived in Basildon, ESSEX in 3 bed terraced house since May 04. We've lovely neighbours and close to my work place (wife does not work)..
I've a 20 months old daugher as well and her education is on top of our minds when we discuss bringing her up. She seems quite a bright learner.

Schools in Basildon are not that good, so we have decided to move.. Also we have saved up (plus equity in our house) to buy a semi/ detached house with garage/ drive which is must for me in order to buy a nice car. Our neighbourhood includes Wickford, Rayleigh, Southend, Chelmsford, Billericay, Brentwood and I've also considered Barking, Ilford and Upminster due to their train links (If need be, it would be easier finding a job in greater london if you are closer to train/ tube I think).

I've looked up at various sites and have come up as South Woodham ferrers as ideal place to live as its close to Chelmsford which has lots of grammar schools and private schools. It also has Woodville School which is in top 10 UK schools and William De Ferrers which is also in top school list...

Brentwood is another place but prices are just too high there and it does not have any grammar schools. Billericay is considered a decent area to live in but could not find any schools in top UK school list from Billericay. Also Billericay does not have any private/ grammer schools.

What are your thoughts on South woodham ferrers? I can get decent 3 bed semi with garage/ drive for £200,000 onwards which really suits our budget..

Is this the right time to move? With interest rate cut, would the property market go up again next year?
Also we are quite open to suggestions on schools/ location, so please pass you ideas, so we can discuss here..

Thanks a ton for your valuable suggestions/ tips in advance.

pinkshoes

If there's lots of private and grammar schools in the area, that often leaves those that can't get into a grammar to fill places in other schools, which then become less desirable schools!

By all means look at the league table, but you should also look at how the schools fill their places. Some grammar schools have such a small catchment area that even if you're a couple of miles away you can't guarentee a place with a good 11+ result.

Why not have a look on the OFSTED web page rather relying on league tables. Just because a school isn't in the top 100, doesn't mean it's a bad school. I went to a rough comprehensive with a 54% pass rate for five GCSEs at grade A-C and still came out with 10 As!

psarinuk

Pinkshoes, your assumption is somewhat true but South woodham ferrers does not have any grammar and private schools... Its a few miles out of Chelmsford... I've looked at Ofsted before zeroing in on south woodham..

Also grammer schools rely on results, not catchment. At the present moment, top priority is primary school, not grammar (secondary). I just want to be in vicinity for travel purposes in future... South woodham is centrally located for Chelmsford, Westcliffe and Southend grammar schools..