Why are English Schools to be categorised by County rather than town, city etc?

Question

I have four schools I had categorised in (town, schools). The category has been changed to (county, schools) which is not where I would instinctively look for them. In time a county list will be very long. I'm not sure that I understand the reason.

Answer 1

I don't believe there is an approved category structure for schools and other educational institutions; however, the way it is setup and being used now is very similar to other topical category structures (i.e., Cemeteries).

This helps prevent a number of issues, but most importantly, an extra layer of navigation for very small categories.

As an example, in my small town, there is 1 high school and 2 cemeteries. If we were to categorize to the local level, this would mean I had to create a Town, State, Cemeteries category that would only hold 2 cemeteries, or a Town, State, Schools category that would only hold 1 school. That would be a pointless level of categorization when the specific cemetery (school) can already be linked to the location parent, and easily searchable through a list.

Answer 2

Makes complete sense to me. Lancing College for example is not in Lancing but stands alone above the banks of the River Adur. Much more sensible to tag it as West Sussex.

Comments

Lancing College is, I believe, in the parish of Lancing though not in the town. I'm not sure that anywhere in England exists solely in a county.

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I agree, Lancing college is in Lancing https://lancingparishcouncil.gov.uk/the-parish/parish-map/. 

 Everywhere in England and Wales is now within a parish. Before 1857 there were extra-parochial areas . (a few remaining until 1868).They're usually referred to as extra parochial to a named parish.  Westminster Abbey  precincts were extra-parochial, so presumably  the school was in an extra-parochial area but would surely be categorised as Westminster, Middlesex. My 4x g grandfather lived according  to the marriage register, in Eltringham, extra-parochial, Northamptonshire.  (no schools there though; just sheep and the archaeological remains of a  deserted village).

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The category for Lancing College ought to have parent categories "Lancing, Sussex" and "Sussex, Schools". The category name should also include the place and county, so that the context is clear in the Category Picker.

I've edited the category accordingly.

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@Stephen That would be "Lancing, West Sussex" and "West Sussex, Schools". Sussex has long been split into West and East much like the world.

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No, the England Project uses "Sussex". https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:England_Project_Place_Name_Categories

We only split into "East Sussex" and "West Sussex" for cemeteries.

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Ah, so like the Ireland Project your feet are firmly planted in the past.  Ok.

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I fear so. Most of us are more familiar with 19th century censuses than with modern geography. ;)

Answer 3

I suspect I may be to blame. I have been applying the "County, Schools" parent category to schools as I come across them while applying the Religious Congregations CIB to churches. It seems the right parent category, in addition to the location ("Place, County") parent, for the reasons Steven sets out in his excellent answer. But I don't recall changing a "Town, Schools" category. Can you be specific about where that has happened?

Comments

Gosport, Hampshire. Category (Gosport, Schools) removed. It was evidently a town that believed in education for there are many more to come.

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Not me then after all. The change was made last year. I can see your reason for grouping all of the schools in the borough together - that makes sense to me in an urban area comprising several "places".