The survey achieved its objectives, in terms of targeting families with primary and pre-school age children resident in Sevenoaks and its surrounding villages. 95% of respondents had children under 18.
The top 3 factors affecting choice of secondary school were cited as:
- Appearance/behaviour of existing students
- Quality of head/teachers
- Views of parents with children at the school
Interestingly, for only 7.8% of children, was the religious ethos of the school cited as one of the top 5 factors—it was the 9th least common factor.
- 21.4% of children without an 11+ might attend a faith school, with an 11+ this drops to just 4.7%
- 55% of children whose households have connections with Knole Academy would send other children to the school if they did not have an 11+, 30% with an 11+ and 25% with top marks in the 11+
On travel we learnt
- Three quarters of respondents felt that 30 minutes was the maximum reasonable time to travel to secondary school
- 55% of children are travelling for more than 30 minutes each way
- 7% of children are travelling for more than an hour each way
and on Future Provision we were told
- 63% of children that might have attended a super-selective grammar might be expected to attend a grammar annexe in Sevenoaks
- 26% of children that might have attended Knole Academy might be expected to attend Trinity School (Christian Free School)
- 57% of respondents would put as first choice a school with a grammar ethos, and without a selective exam, if such a school existed
- The top subject cited as crucial when selecting secondary schools was the provision of separate sciences at GCSE