“A consultant is joining us in the new year with their family. They won't have a car at first, and they have a child at primary school and one at secondary. They need somewhere they can walk to a school and a GP, and the streets have to be safe for the children.”
What they chose for the household
In the short interview for the household they said there are children at primary and secondary school, and that getting a GP matters. Schools and a walkable area are the priorities, and having no car is a worry.
So Veto looked at:
Schools in reach. Nearby schools, their latest Ofsted judgement and results, and how far each is from the address.
A GP and pharmacy on foot. The nearest GP practice and pharmacy, and how far each is.
Getting about without a car. The bus routes within a short walk, and the nearest railway station.
Safe streets for the children. Police-reported injury collisions within 500 metres, and recorded crime within 250 metres over two years.
Two addresses, same checks
Address one · Plymouth, PL6
66/100
Fair match
- Six schools nearby. The nearest, Notre Dame RC School, is 279m away: 28% of pupils got grade 5 or above in English and maths, and Progress 8 was -0.27 (2024).
- The nearest GP practice is about 907m away and the nearest pharmacy about 892m.
- Bus routes 14, 102, 103, 118, 42 and 71 within about 210m.
- 280m to the edge of Goodwin Park, the nearest public green space.
- 5 police-reported injury collisions within 500m across 2022-2024, all slight.
- 58 street-level crimes on record within 250m over 24 months, the trend broadly flat.
Address two · Plymouth, PL1
66/100
Fair match
- Six schools nearby, four of them judged Good. The nearest, The Cathedral School of St Mary, is 165m away: 44% of children reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in 2024.
- The nearest GP practice is about 348m away, rated Good by the CQC, and the nearest pharmacy about 308m.
- Bus routes 103, 33, 36, 112, 10, 11 and 12 within about 350m.
- Victoria Park, the nearest public green space, is at the edge of the street (0m straight-line).
- 56 police-reported injury collisions within 500m across 2022-2024: 1 fatal, 9 serious and 46 slight. 16 involved a pedestrian.
- 1,132 street-level crimes on record within 250m over 24 months, with violence rising.
What the Veto report made clear
Both addresses came back as a Fair match, 66, and they trade differently. The first has weaker secondary results and a GP 907 metres away, with 5 recorded collisions nearby. The second has a GP 348 metres away and a park at the end of the street, but 56 recorded injury collisions and far more recorded crime.
For a household without a car, the report puts that choice in figures before the family travels. The team can send the person moving the same reports as links.
From the written report for address one:
You asked us to weight this report towards schools and walkability, because those are the two things that have to work every week. On that test, Leatfield Drive does well in parts and leaves real gaps in others. Walkability scores strongly on paper: a food shop, green space and bus stop are all within 800 metres, buses into town and to Derriford are a two or three minute walk, and Goodwin Park is 280 metres from the door. Schools are close in distance terms, with six options within a short walk or drive and the nearest secondary, Notre Dame RC School, 279 metres away, but the results we can see for that school are weak (28% reaching grade 5 or above in English and maths, a Progress 8 score of -0.27), and most of the other schools have no inspection grade or results in this data at all, which is a gap you need to close yourself before you rely on them.
The score of 66 reflects a property that looks sound on cost, flood risk, air quality and connectivity, sitting inside an area picture that is average to slightly below on the two things you actually asked about. Nothing here is a dealbreaker. The road safety record nearby (5 injury collisions in three years within 500 metres, one involving a pedestrian) and the patchy school results both deserve a proper look before you commit, specifically by walking the school-run route and reading the individual school reports yourself, because distance on a map is not the same as a good school five minutes away.
What to do next
More stories: Estate agent, Buying agent
An example story. The trust and the family are illustrative. The addresses are real reports run in October 2026, shown by postcode district only.
