Where there’s muck there’s brains: Yorkshire grammar tops schools performance property index

Choosing a school often goes hand in hand with choosing a house.

A Yorkshire grammar school has topped the Schools Performance and Property Price Index, published by eMoov.co.uk.

Heckmondwike Grammar School in Kirklees, West Yorkshire saw pupils score an average of 616.1 points, compared with average price paid for property around the school of just £113,507.

The index, which compares average house price to average GCSE scores at local schools, assesses the top 100 schools in England.

Second place in the index was taken by King Edward VI Handsworth School in Birmingham, which slipped from first position last year, with a property price of £185 for every GCSE point gained on the index.

The Blue Coat School in Liverpool ranks third on the index, with Birmingham also playing home to two more of the top 10 schools on the ranking. The King Edward VI Five Ways School comes third, joined by the King Edward VI Aston School in eighth position.

The top ten are completed by the North Halifax Grammar School (5th), Devonport High School for Girls (6th) in Plymouth, Queen Mary’s Grammar School (7th) in Walsall, Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School (9th) in Rossendale, and the Lancaster Girls’ Grammar School coming in tenth with a property price per GCSE point of £271.

Russell Quirk, founder and CEO of eMoov.co.uk, said: “Choosing a school is one of those life mile markers that often goes hand in hand with moving house, so doing your research into both can make a big difference in securing a good education for your child and a realistic move for your family as a whole.

The stress of moving coupled with the restrictions of catchment areas can be a minefield so often it’s necessary to have a third and fourth plan let alone a second. The main thing to remember in both instances is to keep a calm head and persevere and so we hope this research can help people to do so.”

eMoov.co.uk is a fixed-fee online estate agent based in Essex.