The schools are one of Ewell's strongest selling points. Primary results are well above the expected standard. More than nine in ten of Surrey's inspected schools are rated good or better. For most homes the walk to the nearest primary takes about ten minutes. Getting a place is the hard part, and the teaching is not what keeps parents awake.
The four state primaries in the area averaged about 108 in the Key Stage 2 maths assessment, comfortably above the expected standard for an eleven-year-old. The ones parents talk about include Ewell Grove Primary and Nursery School near the old village, Nonsuch Primary School, named after the park, and Cuddington Croft Primary School and Nursery towards Cheam. The Department for Transport modelled the walk to the nearest primary at about 11 minutes in 2019, and that sort of distance changes very little over time. Ewell has had organised schooling since a school opened in the village in 1811, so the parental attention has been building for two centuries.
The secondary picture is thinner. Only one mainstream state secondary counts in the area, and its pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of about 43 across their best eight GCSE subjects. One school is too small a sample to sum up a town. Families here also look at Epsom and Ewell High School and Glyn School, and Ewell Castle School is the fee-paying alternative. The same 2019 modelling put the walk to the nearest secondary at about 16 minutes, which is within reach of most teenagers without a lift.
Across Surrey County Council's area, Ofsted has graded 159 schools and settings, and 147 of them are good or better. That is better than nine in ten, with 30 rated outstanding. Seven require improvement and five are inadequate. Another 194 hold no published grade yet, and they are left out of those totals. These are county numbers, so they describe the wider pool that Ewell's parents draw on, and a single school could fall either side of them.
Surrey County Council allocates places under its published admissions rules, and buying a house near a school does not secure a place there, however short the walk looks on a map. Ask the council how far from each school the last place offered went in recent years, and compare that with the house you are considering. "Walking distance to Nonsuch Primary" in the particulars only tells you the pavement exists. The admissions rules decide the rest.
Schools are one of Ewell's real strengths. The primaries do the heavy work, and the difficult part for parents is getting a place.