Best school ratings in England by area

Which areas in the UK have the best schools?

15 English local authorities have every one of their schools rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted at the most recent inspection. That group is dominated by inner and outer London boroughs, where sustained investment and a competitive schools market have pushed ratings up across the board.

The 100% club includes Camden, Hackney, Newham, Hounslow and Kingston upon Thames, plus a small handful of authorities outside the capital: Bracknell Forest, City of London and the Isles of Scilly. The ten areas immediately below them all sit above 97%, so the top of the table is very tightly packed.

"Best rated" is a specific measure. It captures how well schools have inspected against Ofsted's framework at their most recent inspection, which can be several years ago for many schools. It doesn't tell you about specific exam results, oversubscription rates, or how a school will fit your child. Each area profile splits Outstanding from Good and shows the counts by phase, which is often more useful than the headline percentage.

Where is the best place to live with children?

School quality is only one factor families weigh when choosing where to live. Safety and affordability sit alongside it, and areas that score well across all three are the ones most likely to reward a longer look.

Filtering to areas with schools rated above 85% Good or Outstanding, recorded crime below the England and Wales average of 837 per 10,000, and monthly costs below the £1,531 England average surfaces 46 candidates across England. Names near the top of that list include Warrington (100% schools, £1,328 monthly cost), Rutland (100%, £1,349), York (93.8%, £1,519) and Blackburn with Darwen (92.9%, £1,187).

Below them, North Somerset, Bedford and Northumberland also clear all three thresholds and are worth knowing about if a shortlist that balances schools with safety and cost is what you are after. Two useful companions to this ranking are the safest places to live list and the best value places to live ranking.

Which UK cities are best for families?

Among England's major cities, Sunderland leads on school ratings at 95.7% Good or Outstanding, with a single-person monthly cost of around £1,151. London's aggregate figure of 95.2% is higher still, but hides significant variation between boroughs (from the 15 at 100% down to Bromley and Havering in the low 90s).

The rest of the top-five cities read: Plymouth at 92.2% (£1,366/mo), Leeds at 91.5% (£1,423/mo), Newcastle upon Tyne at 91.2% (£1,464/mo), and Wolverhampton at 90% (£1,327/mo). Several northern cities post very strong Ofsted numbers alongside monthly costs below the England average, which is a notable pattern once you look past the London-heavy top of the table.

What do Ofsted ratings mean?

Ofsted's original ratings run in four tiers: Outstanding for schools performing exceptionally well across the evaluation areas, Good for schools that are effective, Requires Improvement for schools that are not yet good enough, and Inadequate as the lowest rating (which typically triggers intervention). Most schools nationally sit in the Good category.

Ofsted changed its framework in November 2025. Newly inspected schools now receive up to nine separate area grades on a five-point scale rather than a single overall rating. Only a few hundred schools have been inspected under the renewed framework so far, so most areas' figures still reflect the original overall rating.

How do school ratings vary across England?

Region-level averages spread from 95.7% in London at the top down to 82.6% in North West. London is well clear of the rest of the country; the North East and Yorkshire cluster in the high 80s; the North West sits at the bottom of the regional list.

Within each region there is meaningful variation. In the same region you can find an authority at 95% next to one at 78% because local factors (recent inspection cycles, deprivation, geography, school-type mix) all pull on the number. The regional average is a useful sanity check, but reading down the table by region tells a fuller story.

Are the best school areas also the most expensive?

In many cases, yes. The overlap between "high Ofsted ratings" and "high housing costs" is well documented, and several inner-London boroughs at 100% Good or Outstanding also sit high on the cost of living rankings. Estate agents have priced schools into house prices for decades.

The exceptions are the most useful editorial content on this page. 23 English areas post schools ratings above 90% Good or Outstanding alongside single-person monthly costs below the £1,531 England average. The strongest names on that list are Warrington (100% schools, £1,328/mo), Rutland (100%, £1,349), Gateshead (96.9%, £1,252), Wigan (96.2%, £1,178), Middlesbrough (95.8%, £1,146) and Sunderland (95.7%, £1,151).

The list skews heavily to the North of England. Council tax bands run higher there than in London, but rents are much lower, and the single-person monthly cost lands under the England average. If the top of the schools ranking looks priced out of reach, the northern value tier is where the useful shortlists start.

Data and methodology: figures come from Ofsted's "State-funded schools inspections and outcomes as at 31 March 2026" release. The Good or Outstanding percentage is calculated from schools whose most recent inspection was under the original framework (with an Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate overall grade). Schools inspected only under the renewed framework (from November 2025) are counted in each area's total but excluded from the percentage; they are surfaced separately on each area profile. Districts in shire counties inherit their county council's figure because Ofsted publishes coverage at the education-authority level. The ranking covers 296 English areas; the cross-reference sections above use the 249 areas where schools, crime and cost data are all available. Monthly costs for a single person cover rent, council tax, energy, water, groceries and transport. Wales (Estyn) and Scotland (Education Scotland) are not included. If you want the flip side of this ranking, see the lowest school ratings by area.