Many parents are willing to invest thousands of pounds in school fees, hoping to offer their children the best start in life. Even for those who don't opt to send their children to private school, a good education can come at a cost.
This map illustrates where house prices have been bumped up by good local schools.
Each dot represents a school in England. The larger the dot, the greater the relative cost of homes around the school compared to the rest of the region. This premium indicates where good school could be driving up nearby house prices.
The colour of each dot represents how well pupils perform in exams. The darker the shade, the better the grades. Use the “visible layers” toggle to switch between views of schools by GCSE and A-level performance.
The data, compiled by Savills in its report The Education Equation, show that for many the “most cost efficient option is to tap into high performing state schools, without school fees to worry about”.
Lucian Cook, director of residential research at Savills, said: “Prices in the postcode sector of the best-performing, non-selective state schools are on average 28pc higher than for the region in which they sit." He added that this gives “credibility to the school premium that those living in relevant school catchment areas so often refer to”.
Savills identified areas such as Dorking, Malvern, Borehamwood, Warwick, Oxford and Guildford where strong state-funded schools have resulted in higher house prices. In Northwood, Brighton, Shrewsbury and Ascot housing costs have been given a boost by a number of strong private schools.
In London, 30pc of pupils do not get their first choice of state secondary school. House prices around London’s top independent schools can also be high as parents try and reduce the length of the school run.
The average house price in the postcode sectors in which London’s private schools are found is just shy of £760,000, Savills calculated, compared with around £460,000 for the capital as a whole. House prices in Wallington, Altrincham, and Orpington are boosted by good local grammar schools, Savills said.
