Parents looking to buy a property close to a primary school rated as ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted face paying a premium of more than £50,000.

New figures from Rightmove show the average asking price of homes in the successful admission zone of high-performing Grade 1 schools is £52,372 or 18 per cent higher than in areas around Grade 3 institutions.

There is also a 12 per cent (average of £37,000) hike in prices between properties near mid-range Grade 2 schools and those in Grade 1.

Kevin Shaw, national sales director at property specialist Leaders, says: “With 86 per cent of ‘outstanding’ primary schools already oversubscribed, living in an area with the best chance of being accepted by one has become a priority for many parents.

“Living close to the right school has long been an important factor for home hunters, but the latest figures suggest people are now willing to pay even more for the privilege. Indeed, many movers admit to compromising on other issues in order to live close to a school above all else.

“Buyers should remember that some of the top schools have a very small successful admission area – sometimes measured in metres – so they should always check whether a property was in this area in the last academic year before completing a purchase.”

Parents in the West Midlands face paying the largest premium to live near a Grade 1 school, with a mark-up of 32 per cent in comparison with properties close to Grade 3 schools. It was followed by the north-west (27 per cent) and Yorkshire and Humber (22 per cent). The smallest premiums were found in the East Midlands, north-east and London (all 13 per cent).

Kevin adds: “With incredible demand for properties close to the best schools and an overall lack of supply in the market also helping to push up prices, those who live within a successful admission zone may wish to consider the benefits of selling – particularly if they no longer have children of a school age.

“Many are likely to be surprised by just how much their home is now worth and how high demand from parents can help them to get a great price.”

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre are appealing for information on an actor who appeared in a production of The Little Minister in 1909.

The Little Minister is a play published in 1897 based on the 1891 novel by the author of Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie.

Chief Executive of the Grand Theatre, Adrian Jackson recently received a framed collection of old postcards featuring nine cast members, photographed in costume from the play, The Little Minister. On the back, they have been signed and posted to a Mr William Oliver at Darlington Street, Wolverhampton. Mr Oliver also features as a cast member on one of the cards.

The Grand Theatre heritage website, grandmemories.co.uk has no record of the production and based on the postmark and inscription on the mount it took place in December 1909.

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre are calling out to anyone who may have information on the production, a programme, or anyone who may be a descendant of Mr Oliver. Perhaps someone remembers seeing the framed postcard collection on display. It is hoped that the theatre can display the postcards for the public to see alongside any extra information.

Those who wish to contact the theatre with any information, to show or donate any programmes from the period should contact Scott Bird, Sales & Marketing Manager (Press & PR) on 01902 57 33 11 or by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Local singing sensation Bradley Simpson, from pop rock band The Vamps, joined sick children at Birmingham Children’s Hospital as excitement builds in the city for this summer’s free public art event, The Big Sleuth.

Heart-throb Brad took time out of rehearsals for The Vamps upcoming world tour to surprise the kids spending a few hours in the hospital’s Play and Admissions Centre designing and painting one of The Big Sleuth’s miniature bear’s, which could make it onto the 10-week trail.

The excited patients joined the 21 year-old lead singer from Sutton Coldfield, as he used inspiration from the kids’ hospital visits and their love of music to add his artistic flair to the project.

The Big Sleuth, so named because sleuth is the collective noun for a group of bears, will see up to 100 giant bear sculptures (and bear cubs created by schools and young people) leave their paw prints all over the city as it gets set to be known as Bear-mingham in 2017.

The project, brought by Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity and creative producers Wild in Art comes hot on the heels of The Big Hoot which attracted more than 800,000 visitors and in total raised over £625,000 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity.

In connection with Chief Minister Talent Hunt Program, Rawalpindi Arts Council (RAC) arranged a divisional painting competition here on Monday aim to provide platform to young artists aged 18-35 years. The top three artists were given cash rewards of Rs.150,000, Rs.100,000 and Rs.75,000 respectively. Encouragement reward of Rs.10,000 each was given to ten artists of Rawalpindi region.

In the painting competition held at the RAC, Chairman Metro bus and PML-N Senior leader Muhammad Hanif Abbasi was chief guest flanked by Additional Commissioner Tariq Mehmood Tariq, Naheed Manzoor and Resident Director of RAC Waqar Ahmed. The competitors were given a portrait of Ustad Allah Bux to paint on the canvas provided by this Council.

Top three artists will take part in the provincial level competition to be held in Lahore. Shields were given to all participants of the competition. Asma Bibi got first position; Sonam Nawaz secured second position while Shumaila got third position. Ten awards of encouragement were given to Asher Masih, Numaira Javed, Wahaj Ahmed, Aleena Azhar, Anum Akram, Asifa Jabeen, Sadia Naurin, Sania Imtiaz, Fatima Naveed and Tayyaba Hassan.

Speaking on the occasion, Muhammad Hanif Abbasi said it was the vision of Chief Minister Punjab to make the youth self-employed and include them in national development. He said Chief Minister Talent Hunt Program is a positive step of the government where youth has been enabled to show their hidden talent.

Airlines have awarded Birmingham Airport the Routes Europe 2017 Marketing Award in the 4-20m passenger category for its marketing activity over the last 12 months. The awards, voted by a panel of senior airline executives, are an annual event and highly regarded in the aviation industry. They recognise the outstanding marketing services that have supported the launch of new air routes or the development of existing services.

The ceremony held last night (Monday) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, saw the Midlands’ largest airport beat stiff competition from Warsaw Chopin, Budapest, Cologne Bonn, Marseille Provence and Larnaca Int’l Airports in its category.

Paul Kehoe, the Airport’s Chief Executive, said: “I’m delighted for the team on receiving this accolade which has recognised our airline marketing campaigns as well as business development and sales activities over the last year. The team have explored innovative new ways to engage with global audiences through traditional and new marketing channels and they should feel very proud of this award, as do I.”

In 2016, the airport saw a 14.2% increase in passengers and has celebrated more than two years of consecutive monthly record growth. Despite this boom, the airport managed to get more flights in and out on time than any other airport, becoming the world’s most punctual airport in 2016.

Following on from the launch of nine airlines in 2015, last year the airport launched six new carriers – Blue Air, Qatar, CSA, Iberia, Cobalt and Alba Star. So far in 2017, it has welcomed Jet2, bmi regional and has announced British Airways and Fly One, both due to launch this summer.

Steven Small, brand director, Routes, added: “Congratulations to Birmingham Airport on the winning the award. It’s not surprising due to the dedication and enthusiasm of the team, and the creativity and hard work put into the submission.”