Somerset

Super-tasty Cheddar cheese and thirst-slaying cider. Glastonbury Festival and world-famous Carnival. And anyone for cricket?

Kilve Beach

Living and working in Somerset

There’s so much to our special county. Beautiful stretches of sandy coastline, caves, moors, the unique Somerset Levels, get-away-from-it-all areas of outstanding natural beauty, cool-list towns, internationally renowned art galleries and great food. And yes, cider. It’s all here. You’ll find historic villages and bustling market towns, rich heritage and history, sitting side-by-side with buzzing nightlife, great shopping and more family-friendly things-to-do than you can shake Merlin’s legendary staff at.

Culture

Somerset is alive with music, literature and art, from Glastonbury Festival and the much-loved Wurzels, to landscapes that have been inspiring famous authors and poets for generations – not to mention cave art dating as far back as 7000 BC. Glastonbury Festival is the Big One. Attracting more than 170,000 people each year, it’s the UK’s most famous festival and has seen some of the world’s largest performers grace its iconic Pyramid Stage. But it’s not Somerset’s only headliner. Other must-sees include The Royal Bath & West Show, Wells Literature Festival, and Frome Festival.

Somerset is home to a staggering 11,500 listed buildings and 532 scheduled monuments, and a further 36 English Heritage Sites and 19 National Trust sites. You’ll also find a variety of museums, including Fleet Air Arm Musuem, Haynes International Motor Musuem, and the Roman Baths.

Cheddar in Somerset

Transport links

So much is surprisingly easy to get to. Somerset enjoys a good road, rail and air travel network.

Travelling by car, the M5 and the A38 provide good access to the county from the Midlands, Wales and the North, as do the A303, A37 and A39 from the South and East. Trains run from destinations such as Manchester, Scotland, Birmingham, London Paddington and London Waterloo to Taunton, Yeovil and Bristol. You’ll also find national and international flights from and to Bristol and Exeter Airports, which are both easily accessible from the M5.

Somerset has easy access routes to the rest of the country:

London is less than 2 hours away by train.
Exeter is just over half an hour by car.
Bristol is just under 30 minutes away by train.

To find out more, head to Visit Somerset

House prices

In 2019, the most property sales in Somerset involved:

Detached properties: average price of £419,195
Semi-detached properties: average price of £271,937
Terraced properties: average price of £245,981

Somerset, with an overall average house price of £299,229, was similar in terms of sold prices to nearby Wiltshire (£293,981) but was cheaper than Bristol (£321,183) and Dorset (£329,063).

Data provided by RightMove.co.uk (2019)

House rent

In 2019, the most typical rental properties in Somerset included:

Rooms: average rent of £557 per month
Flat: average rent of £905 per month
House: average rent of £1,289 per month

Data provided by Home.co.uk (2019)

Young female teacher working with a Down syndrome schoolboy sitting at desk using a tablet computer in a primary school classroom, front view, close up

Education in Somerset

There are 242 state primary schools, and 44 state secondary schools in Somerset. More than 90% of schools in Somerset are judged to be good or better, higher than the south west average of 89 per cent, and the national average of 84 per cent. (Figures from April 2018).

Somerset also has four FE colleges and plans to create a university centre. We also have wealth of universities on our doorstep, with Bournemouth University, University of Plymouth, University of Exeter, University of Bristol and UWE Bristol all within easy reach.

"The council is full of supportive colleagues who encourage you to try your best. I really enjoyed building close working relationships with colleagues across the council. They’re proud to be a Disability Confident Employer, and every colleague's skillset and background is valued."

"The council offer flexible working and really trust their colleagues to work from home. Management is supportive and avoids resorting to without micro-managing. There are opportunities to develop with managers keen to support your career progression."

"Despite funding cuts, the council are working hard to ensure these cuts don't affect its communities. The organisation are open to new ideas. There is a continuing change programme with plenty of opportunity to develop yourself and your career."

"Salaries aren't as high as private sector, but the great benefits package does make up for that. The council offer flexible working and lots of opportunity to build a long-term career in an ever changing government organisation. If you like the challenge of continuous change, this could be the place for you."

"If feel that my work for the council is hugely valuable. That I am supporting some incredibly important services. The organisation is forward-thinking in terms of ways of working, offering good technology and working-from-home benefits, all underpinned by an understanding management culture."

"The council is a good place to work if you want to work part time. You have access to ongoing learning. Management on the whole is good. Everyone works very hard, focused on doing something worthwhile and helping professionals, and keen to demonstrate that they are offering good value for money."

"Working for the council is challenging and stimulating. Social Care is difficult but rewarding when the quality of the service can be maintained. There is a genuine culture of reward for hard work. Social Care is a changing and evolving service, and the council has a dynamic reputation."

"The council is a great place to work with lots of room to progress. They provide lots of training and you’re always kept up to date with additional training. I’ve learned a lot in my time here and really enjoy the reasonability that I am given."

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