Choosing a secondary school: parents of junior school children

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Abstract
A small‐scale study was carried out to ascertain factors that parents of fourth‐year primary school pupils felt were important when choosing a secondary school for their children. A total of 72 parents were interviewed, before a final choice of secondary school had been made. Overall, 85 per cent of the parents interviewed had decided to which school they would like their child to go the following September. Of these, just under half named a mixed school, a third a single‐sex girls’ school and one in ten a single‐sex boys’ school. Fifty‐seven per cent of the parents of girls chose a single‐sex school, compared with only 23 per cent of the parents of boys. Three‐quarters of the parents said there were particular schools to which they did not want their child to go–the predominant reason given was its ‘bad reputation’. In many cases, links existed with the school that the parents were considering for their child, with just under three‐quarters of parents reporting that their child's friends went to the school. Brochures about secondary schools had been read by about two‐thirds of the parents and visits to schools had already been made by a similar proportion. Nine out of ten parents, however, intended to make visits, and over half planned to visit two or three schools. The four factors most frequently mentioned as important (without prompting) when choosing secondary school were: the child wanting to go there, good discipline, emphasis on good examination results and ease of access. When prompted, however, the four aspects cited most frequently as important were good teachers, good discipline, the child wanting to go there and good pupil‐teacher relations. The most important aspects were good discipline, the child wanting to go, a good choice of subjects, the fact that the school was a church school and the school's proximity to home. Over a quarter of the parents interviewed felt it was important for their child to go to a single‐sex school, whilst just under a fifth felt that it was important that their child should go to a mixed school. More parents of girls than boys felt it was important for their child to go to a single‐sex school. The fact that a school was either single‐sex or mixed, however, was not an overriding factor in the majority of cases. The concern with the child's wishes and with the school's level of discipline is in accord with the findings of Alston (1985) and Petch (1986).

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