It’s soon going to be that time of year again when parents start to pick schools for their children. There has been a whole host of research into the factors that influence these choices and I (along with Sam Sims and Christian Bokhove) have warned about how parents should not put too much weight on Ofsted grades.
But how do mums and dads differ in what they look for in a school? Surprisingly, we know very little about this issue.
In a new academic paper published last week in the Oxford Review of Education I investigate this issue – drawing upon data from 300,000 parents from across 25 countries.
As part of the PISA survey, parents were asked the importance they attached to 11 factors when they were selecting a secondary school. This included things like how far the school was from their home, whether it has a good reputation, costs and whether it has a safe school environment.
