Choosing the right secondary school for you

As hard as it might be to accept that your little darling is no longer so little, you can’t put off your decision on which secondary school is most suited to them and can help shape them into an upstanding young member of the community.

Selecting a secondary school is a big decision. There are many factors to take into consideration, sometimes more so than choosing a primary school, now you know a little more about your child’s interests, their strengths and weaknesses and their friendship groups. Plus there is the added issue of travel, is there a bus? Is it on route to work? Your child will also need a say in where they want to go to school and of course, the school has the choice of accepting or rejecting applications and for many of them, this is an equally tough criteria. There are postcodes, class spaces and more that can determine their decision, so we know how overwhelming the whole process can be.

Don’t panic though, we’re here with some advice to make the whole thing as stress-free as possible.
Firstly, know when the deadline for applications is and get yourself sorted in advance. The deadline will depend on your local authority, which can be a minefield for those living on borders with more than one local authority or academy trust running nearby schools. As a general rule, it tends to be around October time for those in their final year of primary school, so if your child is in Year 6, the start of the school year is a good time to start thinking seriously about your options.
Because of the timeline of the application process, we’d recommend considering secondary schools while your child is still in Year 5. Schools have open days at different points in the year and some even have open days in the summer term, so you can always make an early start and find out more about your prospective schools well ahead of time.

It’s important to note that if you’re considering a grammar or selective school you’ll definitely need to start preparing by Year 5 at the latest. These schools have entrance exams in the summer for Year 5 pupils or September for Year 6 pupils, so the more preparation you can have for these the better.
We’d recommend doing some online reconnaissance beforehand and making a note of all the admission deadlines and criteria, that way you can save a huge amount of time and stress as the time nears.

Before you even start looking at individual schools, take a moment to consider your child and what their strengths and weaknesses are. You can then use this to help narrow down what kind of education would best suit them and give them the best start in their future career. If they’re highly academic a school that focuses on academic subjects would be a better idea. If they’re sporty, a sports academy which focuses on training would be worth looking into. Perhaps they’re more into practical skills or creative arts? If so, there are schools that cater for these subjects. Does your child need strong pastoral care or more educational support? Would they be happy at a co-ed or an all boys or all girls school? It can help if you and your child get together, maybe with some input from their classroom teacher, to come up with a list of the key things you would like your first choice of secondary school to have. This can automatically cut down the list of schools for you to search through. You’ll probably already know a bit about the local secondary schools as your child progresses through primary, but it won’t hurt to check what options you have from your local authority, who will list all the state schools in the area and which ones are controlled by academy trusts. Schools run by an academy are free from local authority control and these generally consist of a selection of secondary and primary schools, so your child could stay within the same group of schools if you find that they are working well for you.
You will need to check the routes and how it ties in with your morning routine, especially if you have other children you need to cater for.

Once you’ve taken into account what schools are on offer and which ones are best for your child, you’ll need to look at the admission criteria. Each school has different criteria and some are more particular than others, especially grammar and other select schools.
Some nearby schools could have a catchment area that excludes your area, others might be oversubscribed. If you have your mind set on a faith school, your place will depend on how well subscribed it is from members of its religion, even if you are of the same denomination, it is worth confirming with the school what you will need to provide to them.

Now you hopefully have a better idea of what schools are right for you and what you need to do to be considered for them. Now its time to get into the real nitty-gritty of the selection process. Take a look at the school’s Ofsted reports and think about how it could have gotten the results it did. You can then weigh up whether you want to keep it on your shortlist. League tables will also give some idea of how well a school performs, but these can be skewed as schools that are highly selective will naturally have higher results than schools that offer more support to those with additional needs.
The reputation of the school is also something to consider, especially if you know parents of older children you can talk to. Underperforming schools can be easily turned around with staff changes, and of course, what works for someone else, might not necessarily work for you.

You do need to consider what school your child feels more comfortable at as well. They’re likely to choose the same school as their peers, but this might not necessarily be a bad thing. Just as long as you keep the bigger picture in mind about their future.

Open Days are really useful for getting a feel for a school, their atmosphere and attitudes, as well as the subjects they focus on. You should also visit a school on an ordinary day, so you can see what your child would experience.

Key Questions to ask at open days: