According to figures released by Nationwide buildign society, parents are willing to pay over the odds to live close to a top primary school.

The research conducted by Nationwide assesses the impact of housing prices near top primary schools. The data from Nationwide shows that living close to a primary school that achieves 10% better exam scores than its neighbouring primaries can add up to 4.6% on to the price of a home.

The price premium for good school catchment areas in London was 3%, which is the equivalent of an extra £8,670 on the average property value in the capital. In the suburbs of London, the price premium is 3.4% – an additional £8,438 on the cost of a home.

Members of the National Association of Head Teachers and the National Union of Teachers mounted a high-profile boycott because they said Sats are too crude a measure of pupil performance and are used to compile “unfair” league tables. They have called for the tests to be scrapped.

The education secretary, Michael Gove, admitted there are flaws with the tests but said Sats will go ahead next year.He said last month that it was “unfortunate parents and pupils in the schools that boycotted the tests will not benefit from the information that can be taken from test results”.

“I accept there are flaws in the current testing system so I am committed to reviewing national curriculum tests to ensure they are as rigorous as possible and in the best interests of schools, children, parents and the public.”