How to Choose a Secondary School - A Data Checklist

Published 20th October 2026

Applications for secondary school places in England close on 31 October 2026. If your child is in Year 6, you probably have a shortlist forming already, and a lot of conflicting opinions to go with it.

Open evenings, playground gossip and Facebook groups all have their place. But they're subjective, and they can't be compared side by side. This checklist covers the data side of the decision: the numbers worth checking for every school on your shortlist, what each one tells you, and what it doesn't.

Work through it once for each school, then compare.

1. Check the latest Ofsted inspection (and when it happened)

Ofsted ratings still matter, but two details are easy to miss:

How old is the inspection? A report from 2016 describes a different school from one inspected last term. New headteachers, new trusts and new intakes can change a school a great deal.
Which framework was used? Since the single-word judgements were dropped in 2024, schools are moving onto the new report cards, which grade several areas separately instead of giving one overall word. A school with an older "Good" and a school with a new report card aren't scored on quite the same basis, so read the detail rather than comparing the headline.

On each school's page we show the latest inspection date and the grades for each area, so you can see at a glance how recent the picture is.

Tip: if the last full inspection was more than four or five years ago, treat the rating as a starting point and ask the school what has changed since.

2. Look at Progress 8, not just exam results

Raw GCSE results mostly reflect who a school admits. A school with a high-attaining intake will post strong results almost regardless of what it does.

Progress 8 is a fairer measure. It compares each pupil's GCSE results with those of pupils who started secondary school with similar KS2 results:

0 means pupils made the progress expected nationally.
Above 0 means pupils did better than similar pupils elsewhere.
Below 0 means they did worse.

If you want a fuller explanation, see our guides to What is Progress 8 and What is Attainment 8.

What to look for: a school with a modest Attainment 8 score but a strongly positive Progress 8 may be doing excellent work with its pupils. The reverse, a high Attainment 8 with a negative Progress 8, can mean a school coasting on a strong intake.

3. Check the trend, not a single year

One year of results can be a blip. Look at three or four years:

Is Progress 8 steady, improving or falling?
Did results dip around a change of headteacher or trust?
Is the school's cohort small? Small year groups swing a lot from year to year.

Our paid school pages include historic charts so you can see the direction of travel rather than a snapshot.

4. Understand the intake

Context changes how you read the numbers. Compare:

Percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals, a common measure of disadvantage
Percentage with English as an additional language
Percentage with special educational needs

A school with a high proportion of disadvantaged pupils and a positive Progress 8 is doing something right. A school with a very low proportion and an average Progress 8 may deserve a closer look. Neither tells you which school is better for your child, but together they tell you how to read the headline numbers.

5. Find out how hard it is to get in

The best school on paper is no use if you can't get a place. Before you fill in your form:

Check the admissions criteria. Typically these run: looked-after children, siblings, distance from the school, and for faith schools, religious practice. Some schools use catchment areas or test-based selection.
Look at how oversubscribed the school is. If a school receives far more first-preference applications than it has places, a place isn't guaranteed even if you live nearby.
Ask the local authority for last year's cut-off distance. Many councils publish it in their admissions booklet, or will give it on request. Remember that it changes every year.

Our school pages show first-preference applications against offers, so you can see how competitive each school was in recent years.

6. Use all your preferences

Most councils let you list at least three schools (many allow up to six), in the order you prefer them. Two rules of thumb:

Rank them by your true preference. Under the national admissions code, schools aren't told where else you've applied, and you won't lose a place at a school by listing a more popular one first.
Include at least one realistic option. If every school on your list is heavily oversubscribed, you risk being allocated a place at a school you didn't choose, potentially a long way from home.

7. Think about the practicalities

Data can't tell you everything. Before you decide, consider:

The journey. How will your child get there? How long will it take at 8am?
Sixth form. Does the school have one, and do you care?
Specialist subjects and facilities. Languages, music, sport, SEND support.
How your child feels. If you visited, how did they react?

Don't leave it until the last day

The deadline is 31 October, and councils are strict about it. Applications that arrive late are processed after all the on-time ones, which can seriously reduce your chances. Offers are sent out on National Offer Day, 1 March 2027.

Use the SchoolRatings.co.uk map to find the schools near you, then work through the checklist above for your shortlist. If you'd like to see the full picture (percentiles against every other secondary in England, historic charts, admissions preferences), a one-off payment of £9.99 unlocks all of it, with no subscription.

Good luck. Whatever you decide, a considered choice now will save you a lot of worry in March.