A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students (or "pupils").Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonlycompulsory.^{[citation needed]} In these systems, students progress through a series of schools. The names for these schools vary by country (discussed in the Regional section below), but generally include primary school for young children andsecondary school for teenagers who have completed primary education. An institution where higher education is taught, is commonly call  university college oruniversity. In addition to these core schools, students in a given country may also attend schools before and after primary and secondary education. . A school may also be dedicated to one particular field, such as a school of economics or a school of dance.Alternative schools may provide nontraditional curriculum and methods.

There are also non-government schools, called private schools. Private schools may be required when the government does not supply adequate, or special education. foster other personal achievements. Schools for adults include institutions of corporate training,Military education and training and business schools.

The Department for Education performance tables and the Ofsted website is a must. But if only you could just ‘glance’. The amount of data, deluge of statistics and seemingly endless jargon can mean hours of arduous – but necessary – study before making a decision that could impact the rest of your children’s lives.

“Satisfactory doesn’t always mean satisfactory” said a former Ofsted inspector to me. Oh dear. I could tell I was going to need help. I was aware of the four gradings by Ofsted – Grade 1 Outstanding, Grade 2 Good, Grade 3 Satisfactory, Grade 4 Inadequate – and had naively assumed they did what they said on the front of the tin.

“My first action on moving house” she said “would be to go to the government’s schools finder website and type in the post code of the house I was thinking of purchasing to find the schools within easy walking/travelling distance. Then I would check a school’s website to see how current and relevant to parents, pupils and staff it is and how it reflects the work of the children.”

She makes the point that it is worth reading previous Ofsted reports as well to see how a school has changed over the last few years. At the very least, check the date of inspection reports you are reading and keep an eye out  for any change of head teacher.

But how do you get past all that jargon? Jargon perhaps isn’t quite the right world. But you do get the impression when reading the reports that the inspectors are writing in a code for which parents don’t have the key.