New research has revealed that parents are paying a premium of over £52,000 to live near an Ofsted school rated as outstanding.
According to research from Rightmove, the average primary school premium to move from an area where a school is rated as ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted to a property in the admission area of an ‘outstanding’ school is £52,372.
Competition for places is so fierce in England that 86% of outstanding state primary schools are oversubscribed.
The study uses house price figures from Rightmove and data provided by FindASchool from 192.com, which helps home hunters compare nearby schools to see if they were oversubscribed in a previous year.
The West Midlands has the biggest premium of 32%, or £52,919 more. The neighbouring region of the East Midlands has the lowest premium of 13%, though that still means paying £23,325 more.
In London, it would cost over £80,000 more to secure a place at an outstanding school, with an average asking price of £678,595.
Currently, 20% of primary schools in England have outstanding status, while a much bigger 62% have a good status. The difference between sending your child to a good school versus an outstanding school is £37,000 more on average.
Miles Shipside, Rightmove’s housing expert, said: “Looking for the right home near the right school is one of the most important factors that home-hunters tell us they look for when they’re thinking of moving. Many are willing to compromise on other factors if it means getting their children into a good or outstanding school.
“There are of course other factors that play a part in the overall asking price of an area – things like the size of properties and how high the demand is, especially if there’s a shortage of available property.”
Dominic Blackburn, product director of 192.com, said: “Previous studies have shown links between outstanding schools and house prices, however our data is the first data that is based on whether the property would have secured a place at the school.
“Living near a school is not necessarily a guarantee of securing a place with some Ofsted outstanding schools having successful admission areas of less than 100 metres. It is important that property seekers know if the house they are looking at was in last year’s successful admission area and how that affects the property price.”
Primary school premium by region
| Region | Average asking price | Grade 3 to 1 premium | Grade 2 to 1 premium | ||||
| Grade 1 | Grade 2 | Grade 3 | (£) | (%) | (£) | (%) | |
| West Midlands | £218,903 | £187,317 | £165,984 | £52,919 | 32% | £31,586 | 17% |
| North West | £184,659 | £164,205 | £145,269 | £39,390 | 27% | £20,454 | 12% |
| Yorks & Humber | £181,821 | £164,654 | £148,934 | £32,886 | 22% | £17,166 | 10% |
| South East | £408,201 | £367,986 | £336,222 | £71,979 | 21% | £40,215 | 11% |
| East of England | £353,496 | £322,547 | £293,673 | £59,823 | 20% | £30,949 | 10% |
| South West | £300,862 | £284,000 | £253,791 | £47,071 | 19% | £16,862 | 6% |
| London | £678,595 | £659,397 | £598,054 | £80,542 | 13% | £19,198 | 3% |
| North East | £144,192 | £134,322 | £127,102 | £17,090 | 13% | £9,870 | 7% |
| East Midlands | £201,874 | £190,208 | £178,549 | £23,325 | 13% | £11,666 | 6% |
| National Aaerage | £350,339 | £313,450 | £297,967 | £52,372 | 18% | £36,889 | 12% |
