How SchoolGuru can help you bag the best state schools in Herts

You can find the best schools in your area, by using the School Selector. Then the Admission Calculator will tell you whether you would have got in, on allocation day, in recent years. We are currently updating the Admission Calculators to take account of major changes to the admission system in Herts.

Make the most of the School Selector:

The School Selector is the perfect place for a first-time user to start. It talks you through using the website, so you'll quickly get the hang of things.

You can sniff out the schools in your area that would suit your particular child. Perhaps you want a church school, or a school you can walk to, or a school with good exam results. You can decide on your criteria, and then we'll help you draw up a list of suitable schools, by directing you to our customised Google Maps.

Previously, parents have been advised to consider only their three closest schools. But you might not get into any of them. Or you might be desperate to avoid all three. Using the School Selector will help you broaden your horizons so that you can find the hidden gems.

You can seek out the best state schools, and avoid having to go private (average annual cost £10,239, plus one arm and one leg).

Ready to use the School Selector? We'll take it all step by step...

Primary School Selector Secondary School Selector

Make the most of the Admission Calculator:

You can see which schools you've got a realistic chance of getting into, by using the Admission Calculator. We'll give you the facts. And there's no hidden agenda, we're not trying to sell you anything. For help interpreting the results you get, click here for primary school reports, and here for secondary school reports.

You can assess your chances of getting into schools all over the county. You might find that there's a lovely village school, not far from your house, that you'd never have thought of before.

You can use the Admission Calculator to help you decide where to move to, so that you can target a particular school. You can put in the details for each property you're considering, and then work out whether you're likely to get what you want on allocation day. This could prevent you from making a big, stressful, expensive mistake (average cost of moving house: £9,500). We've got some tips for you movers and shakers here.

You can get a quick reality check on your chances of getting into the very best schools – and even the OK school at the end of your street. Never assume it's a cert, without checking with the Admission Calculator. The golden rule is: 'it might be near, but proceed with fear'.

You can use the results to stop you making a catastrophic mistake – like applying for three unrealistic schools. There's nothing wrong with including one wild card, or even two, if you fancy your chances. But three? You've got to be crazy. You might not get any of them – and that's never, ever good news, as you'll be allocated a school you haven't chosen, that can't fill its places. To help avoid this, we urge parents to include at least one safe school in their preferences. And you can sort out the wild cards from the safe bets, by using the Admission Calculator.