Choosing a secondary school: parents of junior school children

Abstract

Summary A small‐scale study was carried out to ascertain factors that parents of fourth‐year primary school pupils felt were important when choosing a secondary school for their children. A total of 72 parents were interviewed, before a final choice of secondary school had been made. Overall, 85 per cent of the parents interviewed had decided to which school they would like their child to go the following September. Of these, just under half named a mixed school, a third a single‐sex girls’ school and one in ten a single‐sex boys’ school. Fifty‐seven per cent of the parents of girls chose a single‐sex school, compared with only 23 per cent of the parents of boys. Three‐quarters of the parents said there were particular schools to which they did not want their child to go–the predominant reason given was its ‘bad reputation’. In many cases, links existed with the school that the parents were considering for their child, with just under three‐quarters of parents reporting that their child's friends went to ...