Windsor's schools are good, and they're organised in a way most new arrivals haven't met before. Better than four in five schools across the borough are rated good or better. Children go through three schools where most of England has two. At secondary age, boys and girls go to separate schools. The standard is high, and the system takes some learning.
Windsor still runs the three-tier system. Children start at a first school, move to a middle school, then go on to secondary. The five mainstream state schools in the area that sit the key stage 2 tests average about 104 on the maths score. Most families start at one of the first schools. They include Clewer Green CofE First School on the western side and Dedworth Green First School further out. Two others, The Royal First School and The Queen Anne Royal Free CofE Controlled First School, have names that sound grand. The names don't give anyone priority for a place.
The two mainstream state secondaries in the area are The Windsor Boys' School and Windsor Girls' School, and their pupils average about 47 on the Attainment 8 measure. With one school for each sex, most families don't really choose a secondary. Their child's sex makes the choice for them. Eton College is just over the river, but it's an independent school, and for most Windsor families its fees put it out of reach.
Ofsted has graded 21 of the 25 graded schools across Windsor and Maidenhead as good or better, which is better than four in five. Two of them are outstanding, three require improvement and one is inadequate. These grades cover the whole council area, from Maidenhead to the villages, so they describe Windsor's schools only in part. Another 32 settings have no published grade yet. That says nothing either way about how good they are.
Places are given out under the council's published admissions rules, so living near a first school doesn't guarantee your child a place there. Before you exchange contracts, check the admissions criteria for the schools you want and how far away last year's places went. Listings will say a house is close to a good first school. That sentence doesn't get your child a place.
Schools are one of Windsor's real strengths. The results are solid and almost every school is graded well, so the main thing to plan for is the extra move between three schools.