Secondary School Catchment Area Checker
Use our free interactive tool to check whether any UK address falls within a secondary school catchment zone. Enter a postcode, plot the school on the map, and add the catchment radius from the school's admissions policy to instantly see if you're in or out.
🗺️ Check Your Secondary School Catchment
Free tool — no registration needed. Enter any UK postcode or address to check secondary school catchment areas.
How Secondary School Catchment Areas Work
Secondary schools in England (Year 7 entry) use a range of admissions criteria to allocate places when they are oversubscribed. Distance from home to school is almost always a tiebreaker, even for schools that prioritise other criteria first such as siblings or faith.
For most community secondary schools, the admissions authority is the Local Authority. For academies and foundation schools, the governing body sets its own admissions policy — but distance still features in the vast majority of cases.
📍 How distance is measured
Most secondary schools use straight-line (as the crow flies) distance from your home address to a fixed point at the school — usually the main entrance or the centre of the school building. The Local Authority typically uses Ordnance Survey data to calculate this precisely.
📅 Last distance offered
Each year, Local Authorities publish the furthest distance from which a child was offered a place at each oversubscribed school. This is the most reliable guide to your chances. It changes year on year depending on demand — always use the most recent figure.
⚠️ Faith and selective schools
Grammar schools allocate places by test score, not distance. Faith schools prioritise by religious practice first. For these schools, distance is a final tiebreaker only — our tool still shows proximity but this may not reflect your actual chances.
👥 Siblings and looked-after children
Siblings of children already at the school and looked-after children are typically given priority before distance is applied. This means the effective catchment distance for non-sibling applicants can be shorter than the published last distance offered.
How to Check Your Secondary School Catchment
Click "Open Free Tool" above to launch the interactive map.
Click "Add School" and search for the secondary school by name or postcode. The tool will plot it on the map.
Find the last distance offered from the school's admissions policy or your Local Authority website. Enter this as the catchment radius in miles.
Enter any postcode or address in the "Check Address" box to instantly see if it falls within the catchment zone.
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Secondary School Catchment FAQs
What is a secondary school catchment area?
A secondary school catchment area is the geographic zone from which a school draws its pupils. In practice it's not a fixed boundary — it's the distance within which all applicants received offers in the most recent admissions round. This distance changes every year.
How do I find out the catchment distance for a specific secondary school?
Check your Local Authority's admissions statistics page. Most LAs publish annual data showing the furthest distance offered at each oversubscribed school on National Offer Day (1 March for secondary). You can also find this in the school's own admissions policy document.
Does living in catchment guarantee a secondary school place?
No. Being within last year's catchment distance is a guide only. Demand varies year on year. If more siblings or looked-after children apply, the effective distance for non-priority applicants shrinks. Always have backup preferences.
Can I check multiple secondary schools at once?
Yes — our free tool lets you add up to 5 schools simultaneously and compare their catchment zones on the same map. This is useful when choosing between secondary schools in the same area.
Do secondary school catchment areas change?
Yes, every year. The catchment distance is determined by how many children apply and how many places are available. A school that was heavily oversubscribed one year may be undersubscribed the next, and vice versa.
What year does secondary school catchment apply to?
Secondary school catchment applies to Year 7 entry — children moving up from primary school at age 11. Applications are made in the autumn term and offers are made on National Offer Day, 1 March.