Good school guide

[Fivechildrenandamenagarie]

Is it worth the paper it is written on?

To expand. Looking at schools for dd1. It seems to give pretty glowing reports for every school. Mumsnet can be far more inciteful.

It depends what you are looking for.

I have read it to help shortlist high schools that I may like to visit. However some of the schools they had listed in my area had inaccurate details and old figures. Some schools were missing altogether that I know exist (as my older children have attended them) and some schools with really good reputations and excellent results were incorrectly recorded as being poor performing schools. My youngest childs school is the top in the town for KS2 SAT's but Good school guide suggested it was poor and achieving well below average scores yet on RMSchool finder it is at the top in the area.

So I guess I am suggesting, in my opinion, that 'its not worth the paper its written on' ?

You must read between the lines. They do get threatened by schools that get poor verdicts based on parents returning less than glowing recommendations. The online version is more up to date. In my experience, they are very honest about what they observe. They also see through schools who put up a smokescreen about problems as they will have been alerted by parents past and present. Nothing goes in that has not been corroborated.

My DS's prep was unrecognisable from their description, the get a bit defensive if you say this.

I think you can have a months trial of the online version for £10

My DCs school used to be pretty well described. I have dipped into it in the book shop. Its probably more useful to buy if you are looking at a wide range of boarding schools.
You do need to read carefully.

But remember each entry is only updated every few years. Schools do change especially with a new head.

There are also lots of perfectly good schools which are not in there.

A couple of reviews about schools near us were way out of date, details had changed completely.

I've found Mumsnet and the Dept of Education site (both free!) have been invaluable, much more useful than what the gsg have written.

There are also very few state schools with a review, which annoys me a bit.

I've tried to post a comment on one of the schools (factual, not slanderous in any way) and it's still awaiting approval quite a while later, which might explain why I have never seen a comment posted for any of the schools I looked at?

The Owner and Editor in Chief of The Good Schools Guide is Ralph Palmer, 12th Baron Lucas of Crudwell and 8th Lord Dingwall: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Palmer,_12th_Baron_Lucas

Lord Lucas, an Etonian, is the brother of The Hon Timothy Palmer, Chairman of the Governors of St Paul's Girls' School.

Both brothers are Liverymen of the Worshipful Company of Mercers, which runs a number of other independent schools, including St Paul's, Colet Court and Abingdon: www.mercers.co.uk/schools

Membership of the Mercers' Company, and seats on the boards of governors of its schools, are largely passed down through generations of landed families: www.mercers.co.uk/membership-governance

The Charity Commission opened a statutory inquiry in July 2014 into St Paul's School, which will investigate "the charity trustees' approach to safeguarding and handling of allegations of a sexual nature": www.gov.uk/government/news/charity-commission-announces-investigation-into-st-pauls-school

Readers of The Good Schools Guide may wish to bear these facts in mind.

I did the trial membership but I got the impression they only bother to review selective schools and don't bother with comps on the whole.