New primary school and nursery proposed at Granton Waterfront, which would impact catchment areas for several local schools.
Find out more and share your views by 3 October at:
Have your say on new waterfront school
Tag: catchment areas
Proximity to schools can increase a home’s value by as much as 14.28% in Scotland
As we all know, living in the right postcode can be key to securing a place for your children at your dream school.
In an effort to ensure fair access, schools prioritise a number of factors for admissions but researchers have found that the British school system often relies more heavily on ‘distance from the school’, favouring those who live nearer.
But did you know that distance from a school can affect the local housing market?
Online Money Advisor wanted to investigate this phenomenon and set out to see where there are price premiums for buying a property within 0.5 miles of a school, and also to identify the schools in Scotland with the most expensive catchment areas.
Key findings
- Glenrothes is the Scottish town with the highest premium for living close to a school, with the average property price within 0.5 miles of a school 14.28% higher than those further away.
- Cambusbarron Primary School in Stirling is the Scottish school with the most expensive catchment area, with the average property within 0.5 miles of the school costing a staggering £432,663.
- Across Scotland as a whole, homes close to schools increased in price by just 1.73%.
https://www.onlinemoneyadvisor.co.uk/content/cost-of-homes-near-schools/#home
Scottish towns and cities with the highest premiums for living close to a school
We also wanted to find the towns and cities of Scotland where proximity to schools triggered the biggest increase in house prices. To do this, we calculated the average price difference between homes within 0.5 miles of a school and homes more than 0.5 miles away. Here are our results.
| Rank | Town/City | Price Difference |
| 1 | Glenrothes | +14.28% |
| 2 | Edinburgh | +7.78% |
| 3 | Greenock | +7.64% |
| 4 | Glasgow | +5.88% |
| 5 | Aberdeen | +4.25% |
| 6 | Paisley | +4.06% |
| 7 | Inverness | +1.15% |
-House prices are compared to the average price of properties within 0.5 miles with an above 1% price difference
The most expensive school catchment areas in Scotland
It’s no secret that the average house prices vary greatly across the UK. A variety of factors can influence the price of a property, but by exclusively looking at price premiums within school catchment areas we have identified the schools with the most expensive catchment areas in Scotland.
| Rank | School | Town/City | Avg house price within 0.5mi |
| 1 | Cambusbarron Primary School | Stirling | £432,663 |
| 2 | East Craigs Primary School | Edinburgh | £420,056 |
| 3 | Craigmount High School | Edinburgh | £405,580 |
| 4 | Uddingston Grammar School | Glasgow | £394,800 |
| 5 | Dunnikier Primary School | Kirkcaldy | £353,295 |
| 6 | Sunrise Christian School | Glasgow | £348,204 |
| 7 | St Catherine’s RC Primary School | Edinburgh | £344,772 |
| 8 | Bucksburn Academy | Aberdeen | £314,779 |
| 9 | Wallacestone Primary School | Falkkirk | £309,122 |
| 10 | Livingston Village Primary School | Livingston | £290,500 |
Scotland less affected by school catchment area premiums compared to other British regions
The study was conducted across England, Wales and Scotland to see where in the country property prices fluctuated the most as a result of proximity to a school. In Wales, a 6.09% price increase for properties near schools was measured overall.
This contrasts to London where demand to live near a school is lesser, with average house prices only being 0.45% higher when located within 0.5 miles of schools. Scotland’s house prices only experience a 1.73% premium when situated 0.5 miles of a school, so is not as affected by the phenomenon as other UK regions.
-Due to insufficient sample sizes, Northern Ireland has not been included in the study.
Methodology
- We examined the prices of 57,708 homes in 232 towns and cities across Great Britain, comparing their price differences separately for 2-, 3-, and 4-bedroom homes.
- The final ranking was based on the average price difference between homes within 0.5 miles of a school and homes more than 0.5 miles away
- In addition, we determined which schools in our towns and cities have the most valuable properties nearby by ranking their average prices within 0.5 miles. In this section of the analysis, only two-bedroom, three-bedroom, and four-bedroom homes were considered. Due to this, some wealthy areas with large homes and mansions nearby schools were excluded.
- Data from Zoopla was used and is accurate as of November 2022.
It is important to note that many factors can influence the price of a property. Our analysis is focused on the location of properties within a school catchment area to determine if there are price premiums for living nearby.
https://www.onlinemoneyadvisor.co.uk/content/cost-of-homes-near-schools/#home
Homes near top schools command £73K price premium
- Parents pay a premium of almost £73,000 (36%) on average compared to average house prices across Scotland
- Average property prices have reached £277,134 near Scotland’s top 20 state secondary schools
Parents need to pay an average of £72,973 more to live in the catchment area of a top performing state secondary school in Scotland, according to new research from Bank of Scotland showing that average prices in these areas have now reached £277,134. Continue reading Homes near top schools command £73K price premium
Victoria Primary on the move?
A statutory consultation on a proposal to relocate Victoria Primary School to a new building in the Western Harbour and undertake catchment changes in the Western Harbour and North Leith areas of the city has begun. The public consultation period will run until 5pm on Friday 17 March. Continue reading Victoria Primary on the move?
Explore your local Primary School tomorrow
Parents and carers are being urged to find out more about the exciting education on offer at their local primary school as part of the annual open day event this week. Every primary school in Edinburgh will be opening their doors to prospective parents and carers with pre-school age children on Wednesday. Continue reading Explore your local Primary School tomorrow
City crackdown on catchment fraud
Council clamping down on school place cheats
Six families have lost their school places after being caught giving false statements to get their children into popular city primaries in a crackdown by the City of Edinburgh Council.
As a result of the investigations by the Council’s fraud team, the offer of places was withdrawn and several other families dropped their requests when they discovered they were being investigated.
In some cases, families were also found to be fraudulently claiming housing and council tax benefits and were then forced to repay the money. In one instance, where a tenant was discovered to be sub-letting their council house, they lost their tenancy.
Councillor Paul Godzik, Convener of Education, Children and Families, said: “We know this is an issue that concerns many parents and we take it very seriously.
“If we believe there is a possibility that fraud is being committed, we will investigate. If we discover this to be the case we will withdraw the school place.
“By working with the Council’s fraud team, we are able to access a greater range of information, including credit checks, and this has allowed us to identify instances of fraud. Anecdotally we believe there are a number of schools in the city where this is likely to be a greater issue than others and we investigate all potential cases. This year we plan to put these schools under greater scrutiny with spot checks at different stages of the process.”
When registering for a school place for the first time, parents need to provide a council tax demand notice and recent utility bill. If someone is moving house they need to provide proof of purchase and their tenancy agreement. If they are moving to a different Edinburgh address they will also need to provide proof of sale or termination of lease.
When pupils move from primary to secondary school they are allocated a place based on the current address information held by their school. Spot checks will be carried out to ensure this is accurate.
The Corporate Fraud Team can carry out credit checks, check council tax records and carry out unannounced home visits to establish whether or not someone is actually living at the address they claim to be at. If nobody is at home when they visit, they will speak to neighbours to try and find out if they know who was living in the house.
And the fraud team will continue their address checks during the school registration process which starts in November.
Anyone who believes a parent has given false information to register for a school place can contact the school placing team on 0131 469 3033 or email school.placements@edinburgh.
School place problems for Ferryhill and Granton?
New classrooms for Wardie and Flora Stevenson but growing pains loom for Ferryhill and Granton
Ferryhill and Granton are among eight Edinburgh primary schools identified by the city council as potentially having accommodation issues for August 2016 due to rising rolls.
The Primary School Estate Rising Rolls report highlights possible pressures for P1 places for August 2016 at Balgreen, East Craigs, Ferryhill, Fox Covert, Granton, Roseburn, St Mary’s RC (Leith) and Towerbank Primary Schools.
Consultation will now take place with the eight school communities – including the recommendation for a catchment review at Towerbank Primary School – and the report will be discussed at the Education, Children and Families Committee next week (Tuesday 3 March).
Councillor Paul Godzik, Education Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “In the past two years we have delivered an additional 46 modern, high quality class spaces in our primary school estate and a further 24 will be delivered for this August.
“The issue of rising rolls will be here for many years to come so it’s important that we consider all the available options when creating space for our pupils. Key to this is our consultation with local school communities which has been really positive.”
Currently there are 28,010 primary school pupils but latest estimates show this will rise to 31,700 by 2020 and then increase further to 35,400 by 2030.
The City of Edinburgh Council will deliver 24 new class spaces which are needed for the start of the 2015/16 session. Local schools set to benefit are Flora Stevenson (3 classes) and Wardie (2) while Clermiston (4 classes), Gilmerton (4), James Gillespie’s (4), Pentland (3) and Ratho (4) will also grow.
In addition South Morningside Primary School will have a temporary annexe created for P1 and P2 pupils at Deanbank Resource Centre and extra internal space will be provided at both Brunstfield and Liberton Primary Schools.