Grammar schools are an excellent choice for those starting secondary school. They provide children with a great education at no cost. However, with only 163 grammar schools in England, your options may be limited. Over half of these schools have catchment areas, and many have strict deadlines for moving into these areas to qualify for a spot.
Key takeaways:
- 98 grammar schools in England have catchment or priority areas
- Many schools require families to move into these areas by specific dates.
- Schools might ask for proof of your address and moving date.
- Plan for catchment areas at least two years before applying.
What is a catchment area?
When reading your target school’s admissions policies, you may come across terms like catchment area, priority area or designated area. These can be confusing to understand at first glance, but all generally mean the same thing.
They refer to an area surrounding a school and usually, children living in that defined area are prioritised for a place at that school. Schools define their catchment or priority areas in different ways. Some common ways include:
Distance catchment areas: covers a specific radius from the school. For example, children who live within five miles of the school might be defined as ‘within catchment’.
- District catchment areas: the area covers particular local districts or parishes surrounding the school.
- Free transport area: a particular area served by free transport to and from the school.
- Map-based areas: the catchment area is defined by points plotted on a map – usually with the school at or near the centre.
- Postcode catchment areas: children who live within specific postcodes are prioritised for places.
Some schools have more than one priority area, such as Priority Area 1, Priority Area 2, etc. In these cases, children who live in Priority Area 1 are prioritised for places first. When these places are filled, the school allocates places to children who live in Priority Area 2.
Distance from the school is also used for:
- Oversubscription: if there are too many eligible children and insufficient spaces, children may be ranked based on their proximity to the school. Check your target school’s admission policies for finer details.
- A tiebreaker: the distance is only used if two or more children meet all the same criteria, but only one place is available.
Can my child still get a place if we don’t live in the catchment area?
If you don’t live in your target school’s catchment area, your child might still be able to get a place. But the chances are slim.
Grammar schools with a catchment area will always prioritise children living in that area first. If too many children apply to the school than there are places available, they will fall to their oversubscription criteria (as mentioned above). This usually prioritises looked after children, children eligible for pupil premium, and so on. Children outside the catchment area are the last to be considered.
To put this in perspective, take the Redbridge common catchment area (East London) as an example. No child living outside this catchment area has ever been offered a place at one of the two Redbridge grammar schools.
If your target school has a catchment area, it would be advisable to move to the area as soon as possible or at least make sure you’re aware of the admissions policies for that school before applying.
Each school will have a date for when you can move to a catchment area to be considered for a place. Unfortunately, there is no set rule. For some, you need to be living in the area for at least two years, for other schools you need to be living in the area by the application deadline, 31st October.
And remember, grammar schools work on academic testing based on 11 plus performance. Living in a catchment area isn’t enough to get your child an automatic place at your target school, but will put you higher up the priority list.
