A difference of one street can make a large difference to prices

A typical home near a school where test results for 11 year olds are 5% above average costs �2,000 more than elsewhere, the Nationwide found.

Where pass rates are 1% higher than normal, they add �422 to property prices, the building society added.

House prices in the catchment areas of 13,773 primary schools were compared.

'Parental effort'

Alex Bannister, Nationwide's group economist, said: "Primary schooling is viewed as crucial in providing children with the basic building blocks of learning and thus parents put a great deal of effort into researching the performance of local schools.

The age of four is too early to start commuting Karen Whitfield, housewife Catchment area complaints

"Since catchments are relatively small and most parents want to limit the time that their children spend travelling to school, it would seem logical if properties that are close to a good school command a premium."

The biggest premium was in Yorkshire and the Humber, where a 1% increase in the pass rate increased the house prices by 0.48% or �624.

The survey also found that bigger increases in school grades could lead to prices rising by several thousand pounds.

In the South East, a 10% increase in the pass rate boosted the price of a house by around �7,220, while in the West Midlands a similar increase was worth �6,945.

Even the areas least affected by price inflation, such as greater London, saw an average price increase of �485 for a 1% pass rate rise and �4,913 for a 10% rise.

Earlier this year, Anthony Seldon, headmaster of fee-paying Brighton College, East Sussex, said middle-class parents who bought houses near good schools, "squeezing out" those on lesser incomes, were "immoral".

However, Barry Sheerman, chairman of the Commons education select committee, told BBC News Online: "The big difference between years ago and now is that test results are published.

"But I suspect that even 50 years ago parents looked to live in areas near the best schools."

He added: "The test results are not always the best predictor of a child's progress. It's more about the quality of the head and a school's general reputation."

We asked for your views on this subject. Here are some of your responses:

I just despair at this trend, if it is true. I'm single, no partner, no kids, and cannot afford to buy a house anywhere. And to think house price inflation is being fuelled by someone who wants a better school. This is just crazy. I used to work for a local education authority and have seen just how emotional parents can get if there's any chance of their children going to a "bad" school, and moving house is just another desperate measure. Please someone, stop this madness.
James, Cheltenham, UK

My fianc�e and I are looking to buy a property in the near future, but with our first child on the way we are already looking at the areas with the better primary schools. It may be "immoral" but I want to give my child the best start in life, and going to a poor school is not a good start for him. If the government raised school standards instead of just lowering the exam standards then this desire to live near a good school wouldn't be so common.
John Harding, Bolton, UK

I moved two years ago to be near a school that I knew had a good reputation locally. The house was a few thousand more than equivalent houses a few miles away.

However, since then, the school's reputation has become widely known across the city. The result has been that my house has increased in value by 98% since I moved in, whereas the house I moved from (just 2.5 miles away) has increased by just 25% in the same period.
Stuart Savage, Leeds

Where I live, houses on one side of the road are worth �300,000. The houses on the other side, which come under the catchment area of a good secondary school, are worth �50,000 more.
AS, Reading, UK

But think of it another way: it is a better investment in many circumstances than paying for private school. If you have a couple of children and have to send them to a private school to get the 10%+ improvement over average, that will cost �20,000 per annum. Paying even �50,000 seem like much better value.
ZH, Ascot, Berks

Has anyone considered that the policy of contributing towards the cost of teachers' mortgages is having a distorting impact on house prices close to schools? Making houses more affordable for teachers and emergency workers further fuels the housing market and does nothing for those of us who do not fall into the category of so-called "key workers".
Graybo, Chichester, West Sussex

Some 30-plus years ago, when I was nearing the end of my period at prepatory school and my parents were considering the difficulty of paying public school fees, they seriously discussed moving from Buckingham to Manchester just to get me into the Manchester Grammer School catchment area.

Happily for them, I managed to achieve a scholarship at a school where the fees - including boarding costs - ended up less than it would have cost sending me to the local school. But yes, parents have been moving near good schools for some decades.
Alan Bellingham, Royston