House prices tend to be 12% higher than average in areas which have the best GCSE performance.

This is according to Halifax, which found that the 20 Local Education Authorities (LEAs) with the highest proportion of students achieving good GCSE results in 2004, (5 or more A-C grades) trade at an average £25,100 (12%) premium to their region’s average house price.

Tim Crawford, group economist at Halifax commented: “Good local schooling clearly matters to families and also to investors when they purchase a property. This link can be hard to quantify given the multitude of factors affecting the housing market but high standards of education and high house prices do seems to go hand in hand.”