Compare Three Family Homes

Use the same headings for every home

Start with the household's agreed areas, budget assumptions and practical needs. Keep one column per home and use the same checks in each. A property outside the agreed area should remain a separate proposal until the household chooses to widen the search. Attractive photographs should not silently change the criteria.

Record the listing source and the date it was checked. Keep asking price, rental terms and other advertised details in their original context. Availability changes, and an old listing is not evidence that a viewing or transaction remains possible. Use a private reference if sharing the worksheet would otherwise expose household plans.

Keep schools as a distinct evidence track

For each child, record the intended entry year and year group, the exact address being considered, the relevant published admissions arrangements and the authority that can answer questions. A nearby school or a positive inspection impression does not establish that a place will be available for the intended move.

The official admissions criteria guide explains that criteria vary. Keep school quality and the practical admissions pathway on separate rows. If an address, policy year or answer is missing, show that gap. Use the linked school checklist to prepare specific questions for the school or admission authority rather than relying on a generic catchment claim.

Work through a fictional three-home comparison

Cedar has a useful bedroom layout, but parking rights have not been documented. Orchard has an appealing school-run route, but the relevant admissions policy has not been checked. Harbour has a larger garden, while the listing's energy information needs a current source. These names and circumstances are invented; they are not available properties.

None of those gaps proves that a home should be rejected. Each creates a different next question. Ask for the parking document, locate the applicable policy, or request the missing energy information. Preserve the answer and its date so the comparison changes because evidence changed, not because one home was more memorable.

Compare the routine and choose the next question

Test the practical day: bedrooms and bathrooms at busy times, work space, transport, school collection and outdoor space. Distinguish a route tried in person from a map estimate. If different household members have different priorities, record that disagreement instead of hiding it inside a single unexplained score.

Finish by choosing the unanswered questions that could change the next viewing or research step. A Place Ahead's public pages explain the method; the working research remains private. This worksheet contains no real family details, listing imports or agent correspondence, and does not guarantee admission, affordability, availability or a property outcome.

Your blank worksheet

Download the text file and complete it in your own notes, or print this page. No account or purchase is required for this worksheet. Your completed notes are not submitted by this page.

1. Household-approved areas and assumptions:
2. Private home reference: Cedar / Orchard / Harbour / your own
3. Listing source and checked date:
4. Bedroom / bathroom / parking evidence:
5. Child / year group / entry year:
6. Exact address and admissions-policy source:
7. Daily routine observed / estimated:
8. Reported claim and source:
9. Unknown that could change the decision:
10. Next question, respondent and dated answer:

Sources and further reading

• GOV.UK school admission criteria

Sources checked 24 September 2026. Follow the original source for its current scope and updates.