The schools in High Barnet are very good, and almost all of the local authority's graded schools are rated good or better. Primary results are strong. Secondary results are stronger. Two schools in the whole borough fall short of good, and none is rated inadequate. Around here the hard part is getting a place.
There are six mainstream state primaries in the area, and their pupils average a maths score of about 108 in the end-of-primary tests. Christ Church Primary School, Cromer Road Primary School and Whitings Hill Primary School are among them, along with Underhill School. Choosing a primary here is mostly about which walk to school you prefer, because the results are strong across the lot.
The three mainstream state secondaries in the area post a pupil-weighted Attainment 8 score of about 67, which is a strong result for a whole area rather than one selective school. Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet and Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School both carry the town's name, and Ark Pioneer Academy is a third secondary option nearby. The schools in the area are mostly ones families stay with, and few have to plan an escape at eleven.
Ofsted has graded 57 of the 59 settings it has rated in the Barnet local authority as good or better, which is almost all of them. Twelve are outstanding, two require improvement and none is inadequate. Another 66 settings across the borough haven't been given a published grade yet, which says nothing either way about how good they are. With twelve outstanding schools to choose from, the arguments at the school gate are mostly between good and very good.
Barnet Council hands out places using its published admissions rules, so a house round the corner from a named school doesn't guarantee a place there. The council publishes how far away the last child offered a place lived in each recent year, and that distance tells a buyer more than the walk past the gates does. The families who learn this the hard way usually learn it in spring, when the offers arrive and the house next to the school turns out not to have been close enough.
Schools are one of High Barnet's real strengths. For most families the difficult part is the admissions process, and the teaching rarely gives them cause to worry.