How good is the Good Shcool Guide?

[Nausicaa]

Hi just wondered if anyone out there has used the Good School Guide when choosing the school. Any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks

I find its assessments pretty spot on, if not necessarily the full truth. But then what is the full truth as my children's experiences of a school differ from each other, never mind other peoples children. Of course there are good schools not in the guide (some don't want to be or aren't quite good enough).

I know a very good prep school which isn't in there. I think the coverage depends on where their reviewers get to and the omission of a school doesn't necessarily mean it's not good, just that it's not on their radar screen yet.

Coverage is probably better for "good" senior schools. There are many very good state primary schools which are not in as they wouldn't have space, whereas all the senior schools I considered were in (state and private) and it was a useful resource.

Yes I agree on that - most good state and private senior schools are in but it's patchier with primaries and does depend on the area.

Thank you all for your invaulale input! Our daughter is only 7 months old but my DH and I are already stressed out about her schooling. We are lucky in that there are some fantastic state grammer schools in our area (we live in Manchester BTW). It is really the primary education that is causing the headache. As far as we know, most, if not all, good state primary schools in Trafford are oversubscribed and we feel that the only chance for our daughter to get into a good one is by moving to its catchment area. It is a huge decision so we want to make sure that the school we choose has a strong focus on academic achievements as well as being multi cultural.

I think it's brilliant and when combined with the ISI or ofsted report, parental recommendations and that real feel as you go around the school it helps paint the picture. Beware many good and smaller prep schools are not included so worth not disregarding any just because the school is not included in the Guide, but I am not sure that I would send my son or daughter to a secondary school that is not reviewed as I do think it covers the best secondary schools.

Their editorial seems to be influenced by the adverts - some of their comments on tutoring agencies are very very side of the mark.
School entries that I have read have not been amended or updated over several years.