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Best areas for schools in England

Every council area in England, ranked by the average SchoolsGPT Score of its state schools, with what a home there typically costs and how many of its schools had more first-choice applications than places. Scores as of October 2026.

Council areas

#	Council area	Average score	Schools	Primary	Secondary	Scoring 5+	Typical home	Oversubscribed	Results
1	Richmond upon Thames	7.7	49	7.7	7.7	90%	£700k	17 of 44	Steady
2	Hammersmith and Fulham	7.5	46	7.4	7.9	87%	£660k	15 of 46	Steady
3	Hackney	7.3	66	7.4	6.9	89%	£575k	17 of 66	Steady
4	Kensington and Chelsea	7.2	31	7.1	7.5	81%	£1m	9 of 31	Steady
5	Newham	7.1	82	7.4	6.3	88%	£430k	19 of 78	Steady
6	Redbridge	7.0	68	6.9	7.1	85%	£510k	19 of 65	Steady
7	Sutton	6.9	46	6.5	7.6	80%	£455k	12 of 40	Steady
8	Barnet	6.9	112	6.6	7.6	82%	£584k	42 of 106	Steady
9	Camden	6.8	48	7.2	5.4	79%	£719k	14 of 48	Steady
10	Westminster	6.8	43	6.6	7.5	77%	£775k	10 of 42	Steady
11	Haringey	6.7	61	6.8	6.1	74%	£575k	16 of 55	Steady
12	Greenwich	6.6	77	6.9	5.6	86%	£455k	22 of 76	Rising
13	Harrow	6.6	51	6.4	7.1	78%	£558k	16 of 50	Steady
14	Waltham Forest	6.6	66	7.0	5.2	80%	£550k	25 of 64	Steady
15	Merton	6.5	51	6.3	7.8	76%	£540k	11 of 51	Steady
16	Ealing	6.5	74	6.2	7.5	74%	£530k	17 of 74	Steady
17	Tower Hamlets	6.4	77	6.6	5.9	86%	£460k	12 of 73	Steady
18	Trafford	6.4	73	6.5	6.2	77%	£380k	19 of 70	Steady
19	Hounslow	6.4	65	6.2	6.9	78%	£480k	17 of 58	Steady
20	Kingston upon Thames	6.4	39	5.9	7.8	69%	£560k	12 of 35	Steady
21	Bromley	6.4	88	6.5	6.0	80%	£524k	21 of 83	Steady
22	Wandsworth	6.4	65	6.2	7.1	75%	£620k	22 of 64	Steady
23	Wokingham	6.3	45	6.2	7.0	84%	£475k	14 of 39	Steady
24	Southwark	6.3	81	6.1	6.7	74%	£525k	17 of 77	Steady
25	Islington	6.2	47	6.1	6.7	66%	£630k	10 of 47	Steady
26	Slough	6.1	42	6.3	5.9	74%	£397k	11 of 41	Rising
27	Barking and Dagenham	6.0	52	5.8	6.3	69%	£385k	7 of 46	Steady
28	Lambeth	5.9	72	6.1	5.2	64%	£525k	19 of 72	Steady
29	Bexley	5.9	71	6.1	5.2	72%	£430k	15 of 67	Steady
30	Brent	5.9	67	5.6	6.7	63%	£550k	14 of 62	Steady
31	Enfield	5.9	82	6.1	5.4	66%	£470k	13 of 78	Rising
32	Lewisham	5.9	76	5.9	5.7	70%	£475k	17 of 75	Rising
33	Thurrock	5.8	52	6.2	4.7	63%	£360k	16 of 52	Rising
34	Havering	5.8	67	5.8	5.7	64%	£455k	19 of 58	Steady
35	Croydon	5.8	100	6.0	5.0	67%	£425k	24 of 91	Rising
36	Surrey	5.8	260	5.7	6.1	67%	£500k	82 of 219	Steady
37	Solihull	5.7	60	6.1	4.6	67%	£336k	17 of 52	Steady
38	Buckinghamshire	5.6	178	5.5	6.1	62%	£460k	52 of 153	Steady
39	Hillingdon	5.6	76	5.6	5.7	63%	£510k	13 of 63	Steady
40	Warrington	5.6	70	5.7	5.0	60%	£260k	21 of 67	Steady
41	Southend-on-Sea	5.5	39	5.3	5.9	54%	£350k	12 of 36	Steady
42	Wolverhampton	5.5	82	5.7	4.9	57%	£225k	23 of 81	Steady
43	Hertfordshire	5.5	415	5.3	6.0	57%	£450k	128 of 380	Steady
44	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	5.5	73	5.2	6.0	63%	£335k	20 of 59	Steady
45	Sunderland	5.4	91	5.7	4.6	56%	£149k	18 of 84	Steady
46	Luton	5.4	50	5.4	5.5	58%	£318k	12 of 43	Rising
47	Stockton-on-Tees	5.4	67	5.4	5.3	60%	£178k	12 of 67	Steady
48	Hartlepool	5.4	32	5.7	3.7	62%	£150k	5 of 32	Steady
49	Rutland	5.4	20	5.2	6.2	60%	£335k	5 of 20	Slipping
50	Bolton	5.4	108	5.4	5.0	53%	£205k	34 of 107	Steady
51	York	5.4	56	5.1	6.6	54%	£300k	14 of 54	Slipping
52	Leeds	5.3	256	5.2	5.9	56%	£246k	68 of 254	Steady
53	Barnsley	5.3	83	5.4	4.8	55%	£178k	17 of 83	Steady
54	Kingston upon Hull, City of	5.3	83	5.5	4.3	58%	£140k	12 of 82	Steady
55	Wigan	5.3	116	5.5	4.3	52%	£195k	42 of 116	Steady
56	Gateshead	5.3	70	5.4	4.5	56%	£161k	10 of 68	Steady
57	Newcastle upon Tyne	5.2	76	5.5	3.9	62%	£201k	17 of 74	Steady
58	Redcar and Cleveland	5.2	53	5.4	4.4	58%	£165k	10 of 53	Slipping
59	Milton Keynes	5.2	72	5.4	4.5	53%	£338k	13 of 62	Steady
60	Kent	5.2	524	5.3	4.8	53%	£350k	171 of 500	Steady
61	Windsor and Maidenhead	5.2	38	5.2	5.2	47%	£525k	14 of 33	Steady
62	Wakefield	5.2	116	5.2	5.2	53%	£205k	26 of 109	Steady
63	Birmingham	5.2	346	5.1	5.3	52%	£240k	87 of 328	Steady
64	Bath and North East Somerset	5.1	67	5.0	5.5	54%	£390k	17 of 59	Steady
65	Oxfordshire	5.1	270	5.1	5.2	55%	£400k	68 of 268	Steady
66	Essex	5.1	469	5.2	4.5	51%	£365k	134 of 433	Steady
67	Herefordshire, County of	5.1	87	5.3	4.2	54%	£285k	15 of 86	Steady
68	Gloucestershire	5.1	259	4.9	5.8	52%	£318k	72 of 240	Steady
69	Reading	5.1	47	5.1	5.2	55%	£345k	8 of 44	Rising
70	Doncaster	5.0	108	4.9	5.2	51%	£180k	24 of 100	Rising
71	North East Lincolnshire	5.0	52	5.4	3.4	56%	£160k	7 of 49	Steady
72	Cheshire East	5.0	136	5.0	4.8	54%	£295k	41 of 134	Steady
73	Stockport	5.0	84	4.9	5.4	54%	£309k	17 of 80	Steady
74	South Tyneside	5.0	46	5.3	3.4	50%	£165k	11 of 42	Slipping
75	Middlesbrough	5.0	48	5.3	3.0	44%	£160k	10 of 48	Steady
76	Staffordshire	4.9	273	5.2	3.9	47%	£250k	53 of 256	Steady
77	Warwickshire	4.9	198	4.8	5.4	47%	£305k	62 of 182	Steady
78	West Northamptonshire	4.9	160	4.9	5.0	45%	£290k	25 of 155	Steady
79	Hampshire	4.9	369	5.1	4.2	49%	£365k	84 of 274	Steady
80	North Somerset	4.9	67	4.9	4.7	51%	£318k	12 of 63	Steady
81	Plymouth	4.9	85	5.0	4.4	44%	£228k	16 of 82	Steady
82	Nottinghamshire	4.9	274	4.9	4.9	50%	£238k	54 of 248	Steady
83	Torbay	4.9	38	4.9	4.6	45%	£248k	10 of 38	Steady
84	Calderdale	4.9	89	4.8	5.0	48%	£193k	14 of 85	Steady
85	County Durham	4.9	218	4.8	5.1	46%	£140k	33 of 210	Steady
86	Swindon	4.8	68	4.9	4.5	51%	£275k	15 of 61	Steady
87	Cambridgeshire	4.8	231	4.7	5.9	46%	£340k	59 of 219	Steady
88	Bracknell Forest	4.8	33	4.6	5.5	48%	£415k	17 of 33	Slipping
89	Medway	4.8	75	4.9	4.4	47%	£312k	22 of 65	Steady
90	Telford and Wrekin	4.8	52	5.2	3.4	52%	£220k	17 of 49	Steady
91	Dudley	4.8	94	4.8	4.7	46%	£240k	32 of 94	Rising
92	Worcestershire	4.8	144	4.8	4.4	45%	£288k	35 of 133	Steady
93	Darlington	4.8	35	5.0	3.8	46%	£165k	7 of 33	Steady
94	Nottingham	4.8	92	4.9	4.4	43%	£198k	19 of 92	Steady
95	Peterborough	4.7	68	4.8	4.6	43%	£240k	16 of 66	Rising
96	North Tyneside	4.7	57	4.8	4.5	46%	£210k	18 of 55	Steady
97	Leicester	4.7	91	4.4	5.8	43%	£243k	19 of 82	Steady
98	North Lincolnshire	4.7	68	4.8	4.6	43%	£175k	12 of 63	Steady
99	North Yorkshire	4.7	293	4.7	5.0	44%	£268k	57 of 289	Steady
100	Bury	4.7	67	4.9	3.7	48%	£245k	17 of 65	Steady
101	West Sussex	4.7	230	4.5	5.6	39%	£385k	66 of 214	Steady
102	Leicestershire	4.7	258	4.7	4.6	41%	£275k	58 of 252	Steady
103	Salford	4.7	84	4.7	4.5	35%	£235k	24 of 82	Rising
104	Sandwell	4.6	104	4.8	3.9	40%	£220k	23 of 98	Steady
105	Stoke-on-Trent	4.6	78	5.0	3.1	42%	£160k	22 of 74	Steady
106	St. Helens	4.6	61	4.8	3.4	39%	£190k	19 of 60	Steady
107	Bradford	4.6	191	4.7	4.0	43%	£190k	51 of 191	Steady
108	Manchester	4.6	154	4.3	5.5	42%	£257k	34 of 154	Steady
109	Northumberland	4.6	76	4.7	4.1	47%	£207k	21 of 71	Steady
110	Cheshire West and Chester	4.6	137	4.6	4.6	42%	£265k	32 of 136	Steady
111	East Sussex	4.6	154	4.5	4.7	44%	£335k	41 of 149	Steady
112	Lancashire	4.6	530	4.6	4.3	42%	£200k	147 of 524	Steady
113	Kirklees	4.5	124	4.4	5.1	42%	£210k	25 of 112	Steady
114	Derbyshire	4.5	308	4.6	4.4	41%	£230k	42 of 258	Steady
115	Sheffield	4.5	136	4.5	4.4	38%	£214k	36 of 123	Steady
116	Walsall	4.5	79	4.7	3.8	37%	£223k	24 of 71	Steady
117	Wiltshire	4.5	208	4.5	4.8	43%	£320k	43 of 201	Steady
118	Cornwall	4.5	249	4.5	4.4	42%	£285k	30 of 240	Steady
119	North Northamptonshire	4.5	110	4.5	4.4	38%	£255k	27 of 98	Steady
120	Devon	4.4	319	4.4	4.6	40%	£300k	41 of 309	Steady
121	Blackburn with Darwen	4.4	63	4.4	4.3	44%	£162k	16 of 58	Steady
122	Rotherham	4.4	100	4.5	3.9	39%	£190k	23 of 93	Steady
123	Suffolk	4.4	275	4.5	3.9	40%	£280k	54 of 273	Steady
124	Somerset	4.4	184	4.4	4.0	38%	£280k	32 of 173	Steady
125	South Gloucestershire	4.4	98	4.4	4.3	35%	£335k	26 of 92	Steady
126	Westmorland and Furness	4.4	128	4.4	4.2	38%	£235k	17 of 118	Steady
127	Lincolnshire	4.3	306	4.4	4.2	38%	£228k	60 of 293	Steady
128	Coventry	4.3	104	4.2	4.9	38%	£230k	23 of 102	Steady
129	Liverpool	4.3	134	4.6	3.2	40%	£190k	34 of 128	Steady
130	Bristol, City of	4.3	112	4.2	4.6	36%	£354k	26 of 105	Steady
131	Southampton	4.2	56	4.3	4.0	36%	£260k	17 of 48	Steady
132	Halton	4.2	55	4.4	3.0	36%	£190k	7 of 54	Steady
133	Tameside	4.2	75	4.2	4.1	35%	£215k	21 of 74	Steady
134	Rochdale	4.2	68	4.3	3.7	34%	£210k	16 of 68	Steady
135	Sefton	4.2	87	4.4	3.6	33%	£228k	26 of 85	Steady
136	Shropshire	4.2	117	4.4	3.2	32%	£275k	17 of 113	Slipping
137	Derby	4.2	75	4.3	3.9	31%	£215k	15 of 63	Steady
138	West Berkshire	4.1	63	4.0	5.0	29%	£390k	15 of 57	Steady
139	East Riding of Yorkshire	4.1	129	4.1	4.3	32%	£220k	32 of 123	Steady
140	Brighton and Hove	4.1	52	3.9	5.0	29%	£425k	12 of 49	Slipping
141	Bedford	4.1	62	3.7	5.4	29%	£345k	12 of 62	Steady
142	Wirral	4.0	94	4.0	4.2	35%	£230k	21 of 88	Steady
143	Norfolk	4.0	334	3.9	4.7	31%	£270k	67 of 293	Steady
144	Knowsley	4.0	54	4.2	1.8	28%	£190k	18 of 53	Steady
145	Dorset	4.0	98	4.0	4.0	35%	£339k	15 of 93	Steady
146	Oldham	3.9	84	3.9	3.9	31%	£215k	21 of 82	Steady
147	Cumberland	3.9	138	4.0	3.1	24%	£175k	14 of 124	Steady
148	Central Bedfordshire	3.6	52	3.5	3.8	27%	£360k	14 of 44	Steady
149	Blackpool	3.6	37	4.0	2.3	24%	£140k	14 of 37	Steady
150	Portsmouth	3.5	43	3.6	3.2	16%	£260k	13 of 33	Steady
151	Isle of Wight	3.4	42	3.5	3.1	19%	£258k	10 of 42	Slipping

Towns

The 40 highest-scoring of 522 towns with at least 8 scored schools. London is listed by borough above, not as one town.

#	Town	Average score	Schools	Primary	Secondary	Scoring 5+	Typical home	Oversubscribed	Results
1	Sutton	8.0	18	7.9	8.1	94%	£454k	7 of 17	Steady
2	Amersham (Buckinghamshire)	7.9	11	7.7	8.4	100%	£735k	4 of 9	Steady
3	Woodford Green (Redbridge)	7.7	9	7.7	7.8	100%	£600k	6 of 9	Steady
4	Harpenden (Hertfordshire)	7.7	14	7.3	8.7	86%	£795k	7 of 12	Steady
5	Twickenham (Richmond upon Thames)	7.7	18	7.7	7.7	89%	£660k	8 of 16	Steady
6	Sale (Trafford)	7.6	18	7.6	8.0	100%	£395k	5 of 16	Steady
7	Pinner (Harrow)	7.6	10	7.5	7.8	90%	£715k	6 of 9	Steady
8	Barnet	7.4	19	7.1	8.4	89%	£600k	10 of 19	Steady
9	Richmond	7.4	11	7.1	8.9	91%	£737k	4 of 11	Steady
10	Beckenham (Bromley)	7.4	15	7.5	7.2	93%	£550k	8 of 15	Steady
11	Kingston upon Thames	7.3	14	6.8	9.1	86%	£650k	5 of 12	Slipping
12	Ilkley (Bradford)	7.2	10	6.9	8.4	90%	£390k	5 of 10	Slipping
13	Upminster (Havering)	7.2	9	6.4	8.1	89%	£565k	5 of 8	Steady
14	Stanmore (Harrow)	7.1	8	6.3	8.4	100%	£587k	2 of 8	Steady
15	Wilmslow (Cheshire East)	7.1	9	7.2	6.1	78%	£411k	5 of 9	Steady
16	New Malden (Kingston upon Thames)	7.1	9	6.3	8.0	89%	£650k	2 of 8	Steady
17	Ruislip (Hillingdon)	7.0	14	6.7	8.2	79%	£555k	2 of 11	Slipping
18	Greenford (Ealing)	7.0	10	6.5	9.3	80%	£510k	3 of 10	Rising
19	Edgware (Barnet)	7.0	15	7.3	5.5	87%	£546k	5 of 14	Steady
20	Altrincham (Trafford)	7.0	25	6.7	7.7	80%	£475k	9 of 25	Steady
21	Rickmansworth (Hertfordshire)	7.0	20	7.0	6.8	75%	£639k	8 of 19	Rising
22	Farnham (Surrey)	6.9	13	6.8	7.2	85%	£518k	3 of 12	Steady
23	Leatherhead (Surrey)	6.9	10	6.6	7.6	90%	£629k	4 of 8	Rising
24	Ilford (Redbridge)	6.8	42	6.7	7.0	81%	£500k	9 of 41	Steady
25	Surbiton (Kingston upon Thames)	6.8	10	6.6	7.2	80%	£525k	2 of 7	Slipping
26	Sutton Coldfield	6.7	33	6.9	6.2	88%	£374k	14 of 31	Steady
27	South Ockendon (Thurrock)	6.7	10	7.3	4.1	80%	£360k	2 of 10	Rising
28	St Albans (Hertfordshire)	6.7	42	6.4	7.6	79%	£583k	7 of 38	Steady
29	Welling (Bexley)	6.7	12	7.2	5.2	92%	£468k	5 of 12	Rising
30	Cranbrook (Kent)	6.6	10	6.6	6.3	90%	£438k	4 of 10	Steady
31	Isleworth (Hounslow)	6.6	13	6.6	6.5	92%	£495k	3 of 13	Rising
32	Solihull	6.5	40	6.5	6.8	85%	£360k	10 of 35	Steady
33	Kenilworth (Warwickshire)	6.5	8	6.2	8.7	75%	£390k	3 of 7	Steady
34	Wallington (Sutton)	6.5	9	4.9	9.8	67%	£400k	3 of 8	Steady
35	Orpington (Bromley)	6.5	27	6.2	8.5	81%	£525k	7 of 25	Steady
36	West Malling (Kent)	6.4	11	6.8	3.1	73%	£455k	6 of 11	Steady
37	Wembley (Brent)	6.4	16	6.2	7.5	75%	£500k	2 of 15	Steady
38	Billericay (Essex)	6.4	9	6.9	4.8	67%	£478k	1 of 7	Steady
39	Bromley	6.4	27	6.7	5.7	78%	£505k	6 of 26	Steady
40	Southall (Ealing)	6.4	21	6.2	7.1	76%	£480k	2 of 20	Steady

How to read this

Average score. The plain average of the SchoolsGPT Score of each scored state school in the area. The score runs from 0 to 10 and combines exam results with the Ofsted inspection; a school in the middle of the country scores 5. Primary and secondary schools are each scored against their own kind, so the two columns can be compared.

Scoring 5+. The share of the area's schools at or above that midpoint. Two areas with the same average can be very different: one where nearly every school is sound, another with a few excellent schools and several weak ones.

Typical home. The median price of homes sold in the area in the 12 months to August 2026, from HM Land Registry. It covers every kind of home, so an area with many flats looks cheaper than one of family houses.

Oversubscribed. How many of the area's schools were named as first choice by more families than they had places to offer, for 2026/27 entry (Department for Education). A high-scoring area whose best schools are full is harder to use than its average suggests.

Results. Whether the area's schools moved up or down against schools nationally on KS2 and GCSE results between 2023/24 and 2025/26. Most areas are steady.

What it cannot tell you

An average describes an area, not the school your child would attend. Living in an area does not give a place at any of its schools: places go by each school's admission rules, usually distance or catchment. Independent and special schools are not scored, and 2 council areas with fewer than 5 scored schools are left out because a handful of schools is not a fair average. Check individual schools and their catchments before you move.

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