Best UK areas for families
Councils ranked on three things most families weigh up first: how well the nearby schools are graded, how much crime is recorded, and how clean the air is.
Council ranking
Ranked on schools, safety and air quality
We’re checking our council-level figures before we publish a ranking.
In the meantime, every postcode report has these scores for the exact street. Look one up below.
How this list is made
Each council’s score is the average of its schools, safety and air quality scores. Every score ranks the council against the rest of the country from 10 to 100, so higher is always better. Councils missing any of these scores are left out, which is why Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland appear less often: some of the data covers England only.
- 10
- 20
- 30
- 40
- 50
- 60
- 70
- 80
- 90
- 100
- Schools
- The average latest Ofsted grade of the nearest schools.
- Safety
- Recorded crime, ranked against other councils. Higher means less crime.
- Air quality
- Modelled background air pollution. Higher means cleaner air.
What to check for yourself
A council-level score is a starting point. Before you decide on a street:
- Being near a good school doesn’t guarantee a place. Check admissions and catchment rules with the council and the school.
- Read the latest Ofsted report for each school you’re considering. Some grades are several years old.
- Scores vary within a council. Open the report for the exact postcode you’re looking at.
- Visit at school drop-off and pick-up time to see the traffic and the walk.
- Check flood risk and nearby planning applications for the street itself.
Look up a postcode
See the full report for a street you’re considering. Free, no account needed.