Questions to Ask a School
Questions for parents and carers visiting a school, covering class sizes, staff turnover, the shape of an ordinary school day, homework, extra support, costs beyond the obvious ones and how the school handles things going wrong.
The questions
Open any question for the note
How many children are in a class, and how many adults are usually in the room?
Why ask it
Two adults with twenty-eight children is a different classroom from one adult with twenty-two. Ask for this year group specifically, because averages across the school hide the crowded years.
Can you walk me through an ordinary Tuesday for a child in this year group?
Why ask it
This gets you the real timetable rather than the highlights: how long they sit, when they go outside, whether there is a second break. It also surfaces things nobody thinks to mention, like a forty-minute wait between the end of lessons and pick-up.
How many teachers left at the end of last year, and why?
Why ask it
One departure in a small school can mean a whole year group changes teacher. High turnover is not automatically a problem, but a head who does not have the number to hand has not been counting, and that is worth noticing.
How much homework should we expect on a weeknight?
Why ask it
Ask what happens when it is not done, too, since that is where family evenings actually get difficult. A school that says twenty minutes and then sets projects requiring a parent and a printer has told you two different things.
How do you decide which class a child joins, and are they grouped by ability?
Why ask it
Grouping practice varies and schools rarely volunteer it. Ask whether groups are reviewed during the year, because a set decided in September and never revisited effectively decides a child's next few years.
What happens in the first fortnight for a child who is new here?
Why ask it
Look for something specific: a buddy, a check-in with a named adult, a call home in the first week. Schools that improvise this tend to notice a struggling new child around the end of the first term.
How would I hear if my child were falling behind, and how quickly?
Why ask it
The honest answer is often at the next parents' evening, which can be months away. Schools with an earlier trigger will describe it, and that difference matters more than any assessment policy.
Who do I contact when something goes wrong, and what response time should I expect?
Why ask it
A named person and a stated window, say two working days, is a sign the school has thought about this. Being told to email the office is where most parental frustration begins.
What happens when one child hurts another, and what would each family be told?
Why ask it
Every school has an incident policy, but the practice is what you want: who is called, what is written down, whether both families hear the same account. Ask for a recent example, described without names.
How is bullying reported here, and what happened with the last case you dealt with?
Why ask it
Any school claiming it does not happen is either not looking or not being told. A school that can describe a case, the steps taken and the follow-up weeks later is the one you want.
What support is available for a child who needs extra help, and who actually delivers it?
Why ask it
The key detail is whether that support comes from a qualified specialist or a rotating assistant, and how many hours a week it amounts to. Ask how long the wait is between a concern being raised and support starting.
What do you do for a child who is well ahead of the class?
Why ask it
Answers range from concrete, extension work planned by the teacher, moving up for one subject, to vague talk of independence. Vague usually means the child reads quietly at the back for a year.
Beyond the obvious costs, what will we be asked to pay for during the year?
Why ask it
Trips, uniform, sports kit, instrument hire, a device, voluntary contributions. Ask for last year's total, because this is the number families are most often surprised by and it is easy for a school to underestimate in conversation.
How much of the day involves screens, and what is the device policy?
Why ask it
Ask what is done on a device that used to be done on paper, and whether families are expected to supply the device. The answer tells you as much about the school's budget as its teaching.
What are drop-off and pick-up like, and what does before or after-school care cost?
Why ask it
This is the logistics that decide whether the school works for your household at all. Ask about the earliest drop-off, the latest pick-up, the price per session and what happens if you are late.
Where do the children eat, and can I see a menu?
Why ask it
Ask how long they get to eat and whether the youngest are rushed. A twenty-minute sitting shared with three other year groups is a common reason a child comes home hungry and unsettled.
How do you handle illness, absence and medication during the day?
Why ask it
Practical and easy to overlook until it matters. Ask who administers medication, where it is kept, and how quickly a parent is called for a child who feels unwell but is not obviously ill.
What is the rule on phones during the school day?
Why ask it
Ask what is enforced rather than what is written. Whether phones are collected in the morning, allowed at break, or banned in principle and used constantly in practice tells you about the school's consistency generally.
Where do your leavers go next, and what do you do to prepare them?
Why ask it
The destinations tell you who else chooses this school and what the transition looks like. Ask about the specific preparation, visits, taster days, staff handover, rather than the outcomes list.
What do you hear most often from parents who are unhappy?
Why ask it
Almost every school has a recurring complaint: communication, the state of the buildings, sport, the same three families. A head who names it and says what they have done about it is being straight with you, and that is the most useful signal on the tour.
Making a school visit count
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
How to arrange the visit
Ask for a weekday during lessons
An open evening shows you a prepared building. A Tuesday morning shows you corridors between classes, a noisy lunch hall and how staff speak to children when nobody has cleared the room. If only evening visits are offered, ask why.
Ask to see the ordinary rooms
Tours favour the new hall and the science labs. Ask to see the toilets, the library, the room your child would actually be in, and the outdoor space in wet weather.
Talk to a parent the school did not choose
The parent showing you round is usually an enthusiast. Stand at the gate at pick-up and ask two people what they would change. Answers there are noticeably less polished.
Bring your child if they are old enough
They will notice things you will not: whether the older children look at them, how loud the lunch hall is, whether anyone smiled. Ask them afterwards before you offer your own impression.
What to notice while you are there
- How adults speak to children who are not behaving, in that moment, not in the policy.
- Whether displayed work is recent and varied, or the same laminated set from two years ago.
- Whether children look up and greet visitors, and whether that seems rehearsed.
- The state of the toilets and the drinking water.
- Who your guide defers to, and whether staff seem relaxed with them.
- How the youngest children get through lunch and the yard.
What leads parents astray
Choosing on results alone
A school's results largely reflect who enrols. Two schools with the same headline figures can differ enormously in how much they add for a child who finds school hard, so ask what happens to the middle and the struggling third.
Underweighting the commute and the hours
Forty minutes each way, twice a day, for years, changes family life more than a slightly better music programme. Do the journey at the actual time before deciding.
Judging by the newest building
Facilities are the easiest thing to fund and the least predictive of how a child is treated. A tired building with settled staff is usually the better bet.
Not asking the awkward questions
Turnover, bullying, complaints and total costs are the four subjects schools least expect from parents and the four that most affect the next few years. Ask them plainly and note how the answers change in tone.