Top 20 education hot spots to buy a home - Telegraph

Top 20 education hot spots to buy a home - Telegraph

Property prices may fluctuate; by-passes may be built or not built; rail services may vary in quality. But there will always be a premium on areas with good schools, whether state or independent.

According to new research by the website PrimeLocation, the average asking price for a property within the catchment areas of the top 50 best-performing state schools can be 35 per cent above the national average. This means that parents are prepared to pay a £77,000 premium to live near the best schools. After all, if you are confident that your children are going to be getting a good education, you can set down roots in an area for 15 years or more.

Now that exam results have been digested and the new school year is beginning, it is time to take stock of options for the future. Here is a guide to 20 prime locations across the country that .....

" Oxford Top marks: Magdalen College School (day, boys, junior and senior, 01865 242191; www.mcsoxford.org) is the leading independent.

Merit: Oxford High School (fee-paying, girls, day) and Headington School (fee-paying, girls, day) are also excellent; Cherwell School (mixed, day) is the pick of a number of good state schools.

The area: University city steeped in history and increasingly popular with young commuters to London."