The Time Out London blog team

It’s understandable that when it comes to getting an education for their kids, parents want the best. So that’s why Savills has come to help. The estate agent has published a study of the areas in England with the highest-performing state schools. And the top spot is in London.  Using data from the Department for Education, the researchers evaluated average academic achievement at Key Stage 2 (KS2) and Key Stage 4 (GCSE level) for pupils in each parliamentary constituency to come up with a country-wide ranking for the areas with the top schools. To assess overall school quality in each area, researchers considered the proportion of schools ranking in the top 20 percent nationally, offset by those in the bottom 20 percent. Children growing up in the well-to-do neighbourhood of Richmond Park are in luck, because they are going to be getting access to a top class state education. According to Savills, the leafy southwest London borough is England’s best location for high-performing government-funded schools.  Looking at the results, affluence of the neighbourhood shows a clear impact on the quality of the schools in the area. The average house price in Richmond Park is an eye-watering £1,016,265, so if you want to send your kids to school there you better get saving.  Sutton and Cheam, also in London with an average house price of £518,988, came in second place in the national ranking. Sixty-eight percent of the areas with the best performing schools in the area were in...

London has been through some serious change in its lifetime. Founded by the Romans in 43 AD, the capital’s 2,000 year history has seen the city go through plagues, fires, industrialisation, the Blitz, and the tech boom.  Now a new photo book has revealed London’s lost and secret histories. To be published on November 23, Panoramas of Lost London: Work, Wealth, Poverty and Change 1870-1945, features more than 300 black and white photos, 60 of which have never been seen before, showing London in the 19th and 20th centuries.   Photograph: Historic England ArchiveSt Paul’s Cathedral, 1942 Panoramas of Lost London depicts a city that Londoners of today may not recognise. It features photographs including 17th-century wooden weatherboard buildings, which were still common in early 1900s London; 18th-century cottages still inhabited in Elephant & Castle; the building of Tower Bridge in 1883; and Covent Garden in 1925, when it was still a busy fruit and flower market. Photograph: Historic England Archive6-7 Nile Street, Woolwich, c. 1900 The collection also shows how everyday Londoners lived, revealing the inside of houses of Mare Street, and shoppers on Oxford Street. It includes portraits of Victorian and Edwardian Londoners: blacksmiths, butchers, bookmakers, shopkeepers, seamstresses, pharmacists, chimney sweeps, mothers and their children. Photograph: Historic England ArchiveMare Street, Hackney, 1904 The photos span a tumultuous time full of change in the capital: from...

When it comes to Christmas trees, London has it all – from abstract, conceptual firs to great traditional spruces. And King’s Cross station is no different. Every year the London travel hub unveils a new tree with a different theme. This year, the hub has something particularly crowd pleasing.  King’s Cross, the home of Platform 9¾, has unveiled a Harry Potter-themed Crimbo tree for the 2025 festive season. The 31-foot-tall spruce is decorated with approximately 800 scarlet and gold baubles (they’re giving Gryffindor) with an owl perched on the top of the tree.  At the installation’s base are recreations of shops found in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, with detailed shopfronts including Ollivander’s wand shop, Tomes and Scrolls bookshop, Gladrags Wizardwear and Owl Post. You can’t go inside any of these retailers, but there is a Honeydukes kiosk where you can pick up wizarding sweet treats, including Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Butterbeer cookies and bottled Butterbeer. Photograph: Warner Brothers The tree is also just a hop, skip and a jump away from the King’s Cross Harry Potter shop, which sells all sorts of Hogwarts and HP-related merch.  Whatever your thoughts are towards the Harry Potter franchise, passing by this magical tree is probably going to unlock some nostalgic and festive feels this winter. Accio Christmas spirit! London’s loveliest Christmas tree displays. Plus: the best Christmas lights in London.  Get the latest and greatest from...