Good, and better than the town's reputation would lead a nervous parent to expect. Nearly nine in ten graded schools across the county are good or better. Secondary choice inside the town itself is short. The primary names read like a regimental roll call. The schools are fine; the admissions paperwork is where parents come unstuck.
At primary level, the one mainstream state primary in the area with published Key Stage 2 results averaged a maths score of 102. One school is a thin base for a verdict on a whole town, so treat it as a single data point, not a league table. The names parents hear most around here include Talavera Infant School and Talavera Junior School, Wellington Community Primary School and Park Primary School. A garrison town naming its infant school after a Duke of Wellington campaign is the least surprising branding decision in Hampshire.
At secondary level, the two mainstream state secondaries in the area averaged an Attainment 8 score of about 51, weighted by pupil numbers. Alderwood School is the town's own secondary, and for most Aldershot families it is the default. Ash Manor School sits across the Blackwater in Surrey, which puts it under a different county's admissions process, and that is the kind of detail buyers on the Ash Vale and Ash side of town discover after exchange rather than before it.
Ofsted has graded 185 of Hampshire's 211 rated schools and settings as good or outstanding, which is close to nine in ten. Those counts cover the whole county authority, not Aldershot alone. Within them, 27 are rated outstanding, 16 requires improvement and 10 inadequate. The good news is spread wide; the few weak grades are the ones that decide whether a given street is a sound bet for a family.
None of this guarantees a place. Being near a named school is not the same as being offered one, and admission depends on the council's criteria in the year you apply, not on what the estate agent says the house is "handy for". Check the admissions rules and last year's allocation for the exact school before the survey, because the survey can be redone and the offer letter cannot.
Schools are where Aldershot quietly outperforms the picture most outsiders carry of it. Parents who do the admissions homework will find strong options close to home.