How are Grammar schools so much better than comprehensives if they get the same funding?

[Karma1387]

Me and my partner are in a situation where we are looking to relocate in order to move to a Grammar school area. This is going to involve us both having to find new jobs and coordinate a house move at the same time.

Some of my family disagree with our decision to move for the sake of grammar school and don't see how they can be better than a normal comprehensive school.

I am hoping some people on here will have some knowledge on how grammar schools achieve so much better than comprehensives?

Also anyone with experience with grammar schools they could share? From what I have read the class sizes aren't much different to comprehensives and they get the same funding. Is it literally just a case of because they do the 11+ they tend to only take on the more academically inclined kids. Does this translate to less bad behaviour etc compared to comprehensive schools?

The move is going to be stressful with us both trying to find new jobs plus moving further away from both our families I want it to be worth it! Our local comprehensive is awful for results and we want to give the kids the best opportunities.

Personally I would rather homeschool and fully keep them out of the school system but my partner is very against this and is determined we need to move to a grammar school area so any advise to aid our discussion would be amazing!

Are we being unreasonable to relocate for the possibility of grammar school?

@Karma1387 all of this is clearly to do with whatever happened to you when you moved schools and you cannot let it consume all your parenting decisions

This is insane. You don't want them to go to school but your husband insists so you decide they have to go to grammar, not comp, but you want it to be in the same area as their primary school so they don't have to move too far so you have to decide where to live now, a full decade ahead of taking the 11+

Kindly, your kids may not be at all academically inclined and that's ok.

Just move somewhere that works for your family and has good local schools.

Have you considered Bournemouth? It's a nice area and has a less intense grammar school system than other areas. There are two good grammars in the town and some good comps too.

I live in a Grammar School area where the selection criteria have changed enormously over time. Full disclosure - I went to one and so did both my children.
However, currently, a child has no chance of ‘passing’ if they have not had several years of private tutoring- at considerable cost per month.
Secondly, our local Grammar Schools accept top scoring children from all around the area, so residence in the local area is no guarantee of admission. Of course it makes the daily commute easier for the child.
if you have the time & money & luck for all this, I wish you success.

I don't think its a bad thing to not want my kids to go through moving schools and the problems that could come from that.

A few points to add.

Schools change. Your eldest child won't be going to secondary school for nearly 10 years. So a decision about where to live that is sensible in 2026 might not turn out to have been sensible in 2035.

Some parents get hung up on exam results, forgetting that all that matters to them is their childs' results. So you could buy a house in catchment for a school with stellar grades but find your child isn't too keen on school and is an average achiever despite excellent teaching.

Schools are about more than exam results. They are communities. What often gets overlooked is what kind of school will suit your child. If you have a child who is very creative, for example, it may matter more to them that their school produces amazing plays and dance performances than that it sends physicists and chemists to Oxbridge every year.

A sheltered academic environment isn't necessarily the best preparation for leaving home at 18, even to go to university. Standing up for yourself and getting on with people not like you matter too.

Demographics shift. Your desired school may be oversubscribed now but the birthrate may fall so it's undersubscribed in 2035.

You are planning a major upheaval for your family. If you end up living somewhere you're not keen on, you're placing a heavy burden on your children, because you moved for them.

Schools can't do everything. Parents can do lots that make a difference to how a child fares at school - reading, talking, travelling, visiting galleries and museums, encouraging sport and joining youth organisations like the scouts, paying for music lessons (subject to available £££s).

It sounds as though you are trying to make a really important decision in a situation where lots of critical information is not available, including your children's academic potential, and where your understanding of the issues is still developing. I'd slow down.

Bournemouth is a bit too far. We are attempting to stay as close to family as we can whilst still finding a schooling option we can agree on.

I appreciate to most people the kids moving primary schools shouldn't be such a big deal. Lots and lots of kids do it. Its a personal thing for me that I just prioritise.

Bright children do not always excel at state school. The behaviour and attitude of the pupils is a large factor in how successfully the education can be delivered to them. Badly behaved pupils disrupt lessons, damaging the chances of success for everyone else. In some schools teachers are there for crowd control rather than to impart knowledge.

Problems don't always come from moving schools though. My experience is quite different to yours. Between 11 and 16, I want to four schools in different parts of England with no trauma at all and a good set of O levels to take me on to A levels at yet another school and then a Russell Group university.

Thank you everyone for the responses! I didn't expect so many.

Lots to discuss with my partner to make a compromise we are both happy with and is right for the kids.

Honestly, if you read this thread you'd could be amazed that anyone at a comprehensive ever gets any GCSEs at all let alone decent grades. At my local comp in an all comp area over 20% of grades are 7-9.

Most areas do not have grammars. They are not full of sink schools with pupils throwing chairs around every 5 seconds.

I know lots of people don't have issues from moving schools. But I would never forgive myself if I did move them and it did then cause issues for them.

If that is the case, then for heaven's sake, pick an area with good comprehensive schools - grammar areas are terrible for the kids who don't get in!

A lot are though.

There are no grammars in our area hence we would have to relocate for it. A lot of private schools though.

I know not all comprehensives are awful. We just want the best for our kids.

I agree with this and I think the fact that grammars are often single sex is relevant too.

I have taught in a grammar and a comprehensive (along with other types of school) and there were teachers at the grammar who'd never have taught in a comprehensive and vice versa. The teaching was better at the comprehensive - but schools vary a great deal within types as well as between types, and the nature of the local area is as important as anything else.

I'd always recommend parents evaluate schools individually rather than by type.

By the way, we thought our DC would go to grammar but it was obvious by the time she reached KS2 that it wouldn't work for her. So you never know!

There's nothing wrong with changing schools. Children are very adaptable. If they are bright and you think there's a chance of them getting into grammar then move later. Loads of kids move schools, I moved school at 6 it wasn't a big deal. It's harder to move schools when the children are teens but not when they are in primary. Stay where you are, you kids might not be academic and a move could be a total waste of time.

Parents make the biggest difference for their kids. Far more than schools.

My dsis and I both went to the bog standard comp. Both went to Oxbridge. Both have had good careers.

My dd went to a bog standard comp. Top grades and now studying medicine at a Russell Group uni.

Your kids will be fine if they have the right support at home.

At our local grammar the average grade across all GCSEs was 8.0, so you can see the appeal.

Nice in theory, but even the best supported kids can struggle at a crap comp, or even a decent comp with poor/haphazard pastoral support meaning they're bullied.

But if they don’t get into the grammar then the comprehensive option may be worse than in other nonselective areas

Moving primary schools caused huge issues for me so I do struggle with the idea of changing them schools.

But someone has suggested applying for primary schools out of area so it may be I commute to take him to a good primary so at least he goes to a good primary not where we live.

Well yes. Because it has picked off the top sets.

But for a comp to be getting 20% grades 7-9 you would expect those in the top sets to also be getting an average of around grade 8 too.

I’m in an area with quite a few grammars and I went to one of the best in the country. Bright, motivated kids and, importantly, parents who believe academic success is important so are more likely to support the school and ensure their child is engaging with homework etc.
It was totally normal for us to be told at school (going back 30 years here) that we were “the cream of the crop”, “best of the best” and “the brightest girls in the area”
We grew up with a highly inflated opinion of ourselves 😂Looking back it seems a very strange tactic!

They’re not better. They get better results because they only take the clever kids. I went to one and I HATED it, the teaching was awful. Copying from books and the like - teachers didn’t need to work hard for pupils to get good marks, so they didn’t.

behaviour wasn’t any different from any other single sex girls’ school that I’ve seen. It’s usually the boys that cause issues.

So on that basis I’d say, absolutely do not uproot your life for this. My mum and dad regret having so wanted me to go and now admit I’d have thrived more elsewhere.

But what you are actually doing isn’t preventing that because things happen no matter how much you try. Just because your awful trigger was school moving doesn’t mean theirs will

because what you are doing is rather than looking at your children and what is right for them is making choices based on YOUR trauma and your upbringing

we can’t protect our children from the world simply make sure we do what is best and give them the tools to protect themselves