11 Plus Exams Forum

Hello
I would like to know if there is anyone travelling from Hounslow to grammar schools in sutton? Is this commute feasible? Is there any car pool facility I can join?
My son has cleared 2nd stage Wallington grammar school and has his 2nd stage tests for sutton and Wilson in nov, I am filling I the Caf form, hence wanted advise on whether this commute is doable. I have just bought a house so shifting to sutton is not really a good option for me.
Any advise will be greatly appreciated. This is urgent as I need to fill the Caf form this week. thanks.

That's not a journey I would personally consider commutable, let alone for a child. However, we all have different views on what is an acceptable way to treat our DC so I suggest you try the journey on public transport in the school rush both ways and then decide if that is what you want for your DC for the next 7 years.

Hope your DS is successful in getting the place as you desire. I would suggest that you should instead look for relocation. The journey to Sutton by Public transport or car pool is a horrible.

Hi there it's really difficult to advise on this one except to say that all three schools can be accessed by different train stations so the best advice would be to set off during term time in the morning and judge for yourself whether it's feasible. Also Wilson's second stage was in October an the results are already out. It's Sutton Grammar that is in November.

Thanks all for the advise. Looks like it's going to be an uphill task travelling from Hounslow. checked the tfl as well and does not seem doable on a daily basis other than relocate.
Kid reAlly wants to go to a grammar. Now stuck between an outstanding state school next door and decision to relocate.
Btw he is sitting in Wilson as late re-sit hence his test is first week nov. After. Caf.

Hounslow - Clapham Junction
Clapham junction- Sutton

Khullarssg wrote: Now stuck between an outstanding state school next door and decision to relocate.

Good luck to your DS.

Your post does reiterate my belief that the dynamics of a natural designated area are always at play. It does imply that parents take the optimal decision for their children and schools are well advised to keep their admission policies as open as possible.

Natural catchment area?

Southall to Slough via Harrow

One-Shot: I would have agreed with you most years. Of course you always get the odd family who get a bit carried away with a grammar school place at any cost but generally they are few and far between or they come to their senses before they actually apply.


This year though, there have been some really spectacular examples. Many more than in previous years. Just around the forum in the last few weeks:
1.Bucks need a score above 121 and people from 40 or 50 miles away have been enquiring about the journey having a child who has met this score (some planning to move, some not). A lot of posters in the area have told them they are mad to contemplate Reading to Bucks or Bracknell to Bucks
2.Slough to Tiffins (the old favourite featuring again this year with the usual questions about what makes such an awful journey worth it when Slough has grammar schools nearby).
3.Enquiries about the commute from Watford to Henrietta Barnett having got a top 250 place (over 100 mile round trip)
4.Enquiries about car sharing to QE boys from Slough having got a "likely" place with posters advising that boys leave QE every year because they have committed to such ridiculous journeys and simply cannot keep it up

...plus lots of less specific enquiries about how feasible a 2 hour journey will be if the child cannot walk to the initial train station / bus stop and will need dropping there before 7am and collecting at 5:30pm every day for the next 7 years (assuming no clubs or outside activities).

A lot of these people of course will never go through with such a scheme and are either looking for a route they haven’t thought of or for confirmation of what they already know. Some however do go through with it having perhaps not passed the test for a closer school or having set their heart on more prestigious ones further afield. I managed to reel of the little list above as it really jumped out at me this year that they'd been more enquiries about car pooling or crazy journey proposals than ever before.

loopylou wrote: A lot of these people of course will never go through with such a scheme and are either looking for a route they haven’t thought of or for confirmation of what they already know. Some however do go through with it having perhaps not passed the test for a closer school or having set their heart on more prestigious ones further afield.

That is a very reasonable post.

I think that most parents from really far-off don't think about the journey much, but once they come close to having to make a commitment, they probably back-off. It is not a one day commitment after all. Those foolish and brave enough (who knows what alternatives they are juggling with) to subject their kids to these kind of journeys have my sympathies. Though, I believe, that is their, and thier's alone, decision to make.