Most parents will do everything in their power to ensure the best education for their children. But this choice invariably comes at a price.

The latest analysis from Savills shows that homes near top performing independent schools command a 25 per cent premium over the regional average, compared with 20 per cent for best non-selective state schools.

The average value of a home close to one of the country’s top 10 per cent of state schools stands at £348,000, 12 per cent above the average for their regions. However, when grammar schools, whose catchment areas are less defined, were excluded, this premium rises to 20 per cent, with the average home costing £396,200. Unsurprisingly perhaps, this rises to £414,000 in the postcode sector of the top independent schools, £83,000 above the regional average.

The new analysis of GCSE results from the department of Education, indicates that there are 346 state schools in England which achieve an average point score per pupil of 450 or more at key stage 4. They account for 10 per cent of mainstream state schools, of which over a third (36 per cent) are grammar schools, and 8 per cent of all mainstream schools including those in the independent sector.

London and the South East have the highest concentration of top performing schools, with over a quarter of all pupils attending such a school. In the South East, it costs on average £80,000 more to live close to a top non-selective state school, where the catchment area is critical, than to a selective state school.

In the West Midlands, where just 7 per cent of schools are in this bracket, parents should expect to pay a 49 per cent premium over the regional average, or £97,000 more for their home.This is followed by Yorkshire and the Humber and the North East, at 44 and 38 per cent respectively. 

Our interactive map below shows, by local authority, the proportion of pupils attending a high-performing state school across  England. The darker the region, the higher percentage of students who attend a top performing state school; an area showing a zero figure means that the local authority has no high performing schools at all.

At a local level, West Dorset tops the list, with 79 per cent of pupils in top state and independent schools. It also offers relative value, with the weighted average house price near such schools at just £290,795, well below second and third-ranked Tunbridge Wells and Epson and Ewell, at £403,592 and £464,748 respectively.

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