Buying a house where school isnt rated good?

chelseablue

We are looking to buy a house and are viewing one on Saturday that looks promising.


However I have looked up the primary and secondary school that its in the catchment for and both of them have been rated by Ofsted as 'Requires Improvement'


I then looked them up in the performance tables


Out of 25 primary schools in the town, it is 11th


The secondary school is 3rd out of 4 in the town for GCSE results


Would this put you off buying a house if you really liked it?

agrinnall

The obvious question is do you have children who would be attending these schools? Your 1 year old obviously won't be going for a while but perhaps you have older children too. If not then the quality of schools should be of little direct interest to you, the only issue would be whether you think it would reduce interest when you come to sell in the future.

chelseablue

Yes our 18 month old would be attending the primary school


It would be a long term home so possibly the secondary school too

Davesnave

The problem is not knowing enough. You really need to read the OFSTEDs to see what weaknesses there are, then consult a crystal ball to see whether the issues will be addressed!

Things can change quite radically between inspections, and even if some part of the school is identified as weak, it might not be an issue when your child is there. For example a poor performance in Years 5 & 6 could be radically different 8 years from now.

You and I also haven't a clue how children will be selected for the various secondary schools in 2023.

Mr_Costcutter

Many schools which have received poor reports are 'turned around', as focus is then placed upon making improvement. In the same way, some schools are given 'outstanding' and then later fall under scrutiny for not performing well enough. How well a school actually performs seems very much to depend upon the Headteacher.

Pixie5740

What does good mean anyway? I went to a school consistently rated as one of the top schools in Scotland. Most of my peers had tutors to get them through the exams so the rating isn't all down to the school's capabilities. It seriously lacked extracurricular activities in my opinion although that didn't stop the school taking credit when I or my classmates did well in competitions due to our sporting activities outside of school.

missbiggles1

Have you visited the relevant primary school yet? I wouldn't worry about seconday schools as that's so far ahead but a personal visit could be i order for the primary.

Brighty

I'd be more worried if it was 'outstanding'. Outstanding schools no longer have compulsorary inspections, so who knows what they're actually like. There's 2 primaries near me, 1 rated 'good' inspected every 2 years, last in 2014, 1 rated 'outstanding' not been inspected since it got outstanding in 2008, since then it has converted to an acadamy and had a new head teacher, still no inspection.

Brighty

davidmcn

chelseablue wrote: »

Out of 25 primary schools in the town, it is 11th

So, above average for the town.

The secondary school is 3rd out of 4 in the town for GCSE results

Possibly about average then?

Doesn't sound terrible, and everything might have changed by the time it becomes relevant for you. The secondary school might not even exist by then...

BrassicWoman

I would ask some teachers what actually happens at an Ofsted inspection and then conclude they're not worth a bean in practical terms, and visit the school myself.

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

Could you educate them privately?