Would you consider a private secondary school with only 30% A*/A grades at GCSE and A Level?

[ftangftangolebiscuitbarrel]

DS is only 8, but I am thinking of Year 7 already and am looking at through schools, so that he can join a prep in Year 5 and go up to the main school.

There are a number of options near us. The nearest school's latest published results are (as in the title) 30% A*/A grades for GCSE and again at A level.

DS is bright but lazy. He can show brilliance at NVR, maths and his reading age is nearly 12. However, his Literacy (writing stories, comprehension etc) is poor (only because he's bone idle, let's be honest) and I suspect he coasts along in Humanities.

I'm worried that a school with a lower quota of top grades will allow him to coast along through his external examinations. I think he might do better at an alternative school where the cohort gets 45-50% top grades.

Do I consider the local school where he will have friends dropping in at home, or do I send him further away so that he can reach his full potential? It's a hard one. His current school is academically excellent, but it's 20 miles away and we're feeling a bit isolated, especially as his classmates talk about what they get up to after school / at weekends, but that's because they only live about 5 miles away from each other.

We relocated - he was very popular at his last school, lots of local friends etc, so his isolation isn't because he's socially inept.

So, friends or A grades?

Do I gamble on the local school?

I've booked to look round and I'm sure they'll give me the spiel about how great they are, but at the end of the day, 7 out of 10 of them get B grades or less.

Has anyone else had to make a similar choice?

This decision was perhaps real for us.

Local secondary got 30% headline GCSE pass rate one yr, 50% pass rate the yr after (won an award for most improved...). They bumble around 44% most of the time.

Because I speak to many parents of high achievers (some of my Dc were high achievers in yr6) who do very well at local secondary, I would send DC there if DC preferred it. Plus this secondary does not have a reputation for terrible facilities or bad behaviour, etc. It's just a rural catchment school in an area of mostly low aspirations. But DC had reasons to choose other schools (somewhat expensive, high travel costs). I talk to parents with kids at other local schools & every school has its merits & problems.