When we left Edinburgh, one of the reasons we chose to move to Harpenden rather than into London itself is that the schools in this area have a brilliant reputation. But it wasn’t until we arrived – and I joined a local parents email list – that I realised there are also some serious problems with the education system here. There is a massive under-supply of school places in the town, and for the past three years there have been large numbers of children who have not been allocated a place at any of their chosen schools.

It has taken me a while to get my head around this – in Scotland you either go to your nearest school or you go to private school and the application process is much simpler. But after a few months reading emails on the local list, chatting to other parents at nursery drop-off and seeing the stress that families go through as they wait to find out if their children have a place in Harpenden at all, I am starting to understand the situation.
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