Buckinghamshire: School Allocation Profiles

2013 Admissions Round – Distance Rules

For school admissions from September 2013 Bucks CC will be using straight line distances for school allocations, rather than the current “walking/driving distance from school gates” measurement. The allocation profiles below are still relevant for the current 2011/2012 admission round.

The introduction of straight line distances should make the system more transparent than at present, with such vagaries as paved footpaths being removed from the calculations. Although you can use various tools on the internet to attempt to measure a straight line distance between postcodes, the most reliable way to check distances is a traditional Ordnance Survey map, preferably on a 1:25000 scale, and a ruler.

Until the first distances under the new system are published it is hard to tell what the Allocation Profile for any given school might be, but the historic distances remain a helpful guide. The main change is that, in the words of one of our Forum members, “everyone just got a lot closer!”

Past Allocation Profiles (2006 – 2012)

Below is an “at a glance” reference for the School Allocation Profiles for Buckinghamshire for the last few years.

The distances shown were calculated by Bucks CC using driving distances and paved footpaths. If you wish to calculate the chances your child might have stood of gaining a place under this system you can check the distance on the Transport Direct website, which uses similar Ordnance Survey software to that used by the Bucks Admissions team. Enter your address (not just the postcode) and the address of the school. Make sure that you go to Advanced options, and under the “Car Journey” section, replace “quickest route” with “shortest route”.

The allocations shown are for National Allocations Day (1st March) each year and where we have them, for the “Final Allocation Profile” at the end of August/start of September. The National Allocations Day figures are merely a snapshot, and the final allocation distances for all schools can change over the following few months, as you will see in certain cases.

It is important to understand the abbreviations used in the tables. The first priority for admission are siblings of children currently in the school and living in catchment (IAS). Each school will define “sibling” in their Admissions Policy – some will be siblings of pupils in Years 7 – 11, others may include Years 12 & 13, and a few schools also give priority to siblings of ex-pupils. After in-area siblings come children without older siblings who live in catchment (IA). Then come siblings who live out of catchment (OAS), and finally children who are out of catchment (OA) with no particular priority other than the distance from their home to the school gates.

The figures given represent the furthest extent of the allocation in each case. For example, an allocation profile that reads “OAS to 5.5 mls” indicates that all children in catchment received places, but after that, only siblings living within 5.5 miles received a place. In summary, priority is given in this order:

IAS = In Area siblings.
IA = In Area, i.e. catchment.
OAS = Out of Area siblings.
OA = Out of Area, i.e. out of catchment. That might be in or out of County, and priority is not given to children resident in Buckinghamshire.
ALL = All Offered – everyone who applied received a place.

All distances are in miles from the school gates via roads and paved footpaths.

Please note that successful over-subscription appeals are not included in the profile because they would distort the profiles.

¹ The Royal Grammar School (182 day places & 10 boarding) – Due to under subscription for boarding places in 2008, the school took the decision to convert the 7 vacant boarding places to day places.

² BHS offered places to all those who applied on time, plus some late applicants to a distance of 7.281 miles.