Questions to Ask About a School
Questions for a school tour, an open evening, or a meeting with a principal, written for parents choosing a school and for older students visiting one themselves.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What does a typical day look like for a student in this grade?
Why ask it
Ask for yesterday rather than the schedule. You learn how long lessons run, how much of the day is unstructured, and how much time is spent moving between rooms.
How many students are in a class, and how many adults are in the room?
Why ask it
Class size means little without the second number. A class of thirty with a teaching assistant works differently from a class of twenty-four with one teacher and no support.
How do you teach reading and math here, and why that way?
Why ask it
The reason is the informative part. A school that can explain its own method has made a choice; one that names a program without explanation is following a purchase.
How do you handle a student who is well ahead of the class?
Why ask it
Listen for whether the answer involves different work or just more of the same. Extension worksheets and genuine acceleration are not the same provision.
How do you handle a student who is falling behind?
Why ask it
Ask who notices, how quickly, and what happens next. If intervention depends on a parent raising it, quiet children will not get help.
What happens the first time a child is disruptive, and the fifth time?
Why ask it
The escalation path reveals the school's actual approach far better than a stated philosophy, and the fifth time is where you find out whether exclusion comes early.
How would I hear about a problem, and how quickly?
Why ask it
Ask what triggers a call home rather than a note at the end of term. Schools differ enormously in how long they wait before telling a parent something.
What happened the last time a family raised a serious complaint?
Why ask it
An answer about a specific case, without names, shows there is a process people use. A description of the policy alone suggests it rarely gets tested.
How do you deal with bullying, in practice rather than in policy?
Why ask it
Every school has an anti-bullying policy. What matters is who investigates, what happens to the child who was targeted, and whether both families are contacted.
How much homework is normal on a weeknight?
Why ask it
Ask for minutes by year group, then ask a parent whether that matches their evenings. The gap between the stated figure and the real one is common and telling.
What is the rule on phones during the school day?
Why ask it
A clear rule that is enforced consistently changes the social atmosphere of a school. Ask how it is enforced, since an unenforced policy is worse than none.
What is teacher turnover like, and why do teachers leave?
Why ask it
Repeated departures in one department are the clearest sign of a management problem, and it is the question schools least expect from a visiting parent.
How long has the principal been here, and how long was their predecessor?
Why ask it
Frequent changes at the top mean each intake experiences a different school. Stability at the top usually shows up in staff retention too.
Who teaches art, music, and physical education, and how often?
Why ask it
Specialist teaching and timetabled hours are the honest measure of how much these subjects matter here, whatever the prospectus says about a broad curriculum.
Which clubs, sports, and trips are actually running this year?
Why ask it
Prospectus lists accumulate activities that stopped years ago. Ask what ran last term and whether it was full, staffed, and free.
What support is in place for students with learning differences or disabilities?
Why ask it
Ask how many students currently receive support, who coordinates it, and whether specialist staff are employed or brought in. Numbers separate provision from goodwill.
How do you track progress, and what will I see on a report?
Why ask it
Ask to see a sample report with the names removed. Some tell a parent what a child can do; others give a letter and a comment that could describe anyone.
What does the school do about student mental health?
Why ask it
Ask whether there is a counselor on site, how a student reaches them, and whether there is a waiting list. Pastoral care with no staffing behind it is a phrase.
What are the total costs for a year, including uniform, trips, and fees?
Why ask it
Extras add up: uniform, equipment, trips, exam entries, and voluntary contributions that are not really voluntary. Ask what last year came to for a family in this grade.
Where do students go after they leave here?
Why ask it
Ask for last year's destinations rather than the best year on record, and ask what happens to students in the middle of the class rather than the top of it.
Visiting and Judging a School
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Making the visit useful
Go during lessons, not at an open evening
Open evenings are staged and empty of students. A weekday visit shows you corridors between classes, how adults speak to children, and what the noise level actually is.
Watch the transitions
How a school moves several hundred children between rooms, into lunch, and out at the end of the day tells you more about its order than any lesson observation.
Ask a student a direct question
Ask who they would go to if something went wrong. A quick, specific name means the pastoral structure is real; a pause means it is on a poster.
Checking outside the school
Read the inspection or accreditation report yourself
Read the sections on leadership and on support for particular groups of students rather than the headline judgement, which is often years out of date.
Talk to parents at the gate
Parents of children already at the school will tell you about communication, homework, and how complaints are handled more candidly than any official channel.
Ask the same question in two places
Put your question about homework or behavior to the principal and to a class teacher. Where the answers diverge is where the policy is not being followed.
Common mistakes
Judging by results alone
Examination results track the intake as much as the teaching. Ask instead what the school does for students who arrive behind, which is where teaching quality shows.
Being impressed by facilities
New buildings and equipment are easier to fund than staffing. Ask how often students use the facility you were shown and who supervises it.
Deciding without the child
For an older student, a school that the child cannot picture themselves in rarely works, however strong it looks on paper. Bring them and ask what they noticed.