What School Proximity Data Does Not Confirm

The schools section of a report shows nearby schools based on their registered location and distance from a community's centre point. This confirms proximity, not admission.

What is actually being measured

A school is included based on its registered address falling within a set distance of a community's location. This is drawn from national school registers such as GIAS (Get Information about Schools) in England, or equivalent registers in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, combined with the school's postcode-derived coordinates.

Why proximity does not guarantee a place

Admission to most schools is governed by an admissions policy set independently by the school, local authority, or academy trust, not by simple distance. Oversubscribed schools often allocate places using specific criteria (siblings already attending, faith criteria, distance from the school gate measured by the school's own method, or other local priorities) that can differ significantly from a simple radius search. A school shown as the closest to a community is not necessarily the school a specific address is guaranteed to be allocated to.

Catchment areas change

Where a school publishes a catchment area, this is typically reviewed and can change from year to year based on demand and capacity. A catchment boundary shown or implied by proximity data reflects registered location, not a current, guaranteed admissions boundary.

What to check directly

• The specific school's own admissions policy and criteria, usually published on the school or local authority website
• Current catchment area maps from the relevant local authority, if the area uses catchment-based admissions
• Historical admission distances for oversubscribed schools, which some local authorities publish and which can give a sense of how competitive a school's most recent intake was