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Researching schools and catchment areas (Secondary Admissions)

Secondary Admissions: Page three of five. Please read all 5 pages before applying.
Introduction | Your circumstances | Researching schools | School preferences | Applying for a place.

Researching suitable secondary schools

You need to think realistically about how likely you are to be offered a place at a particular school before you apply for it. You need to choose three schools when you apply. 

Each school listing provides:

  • Published admissions number (PAN). This is the number of pupils who can be admitted into each year group
  • Over-subscription criteria. When a school receives more applications than available spots, they will use over-subscription criteria. Consider factors such as siblings, catchment, and distance to consider your chances of getting into a preferred school.
  • Catchment area map and details
  • Supplementary Information Form (SIF) if you are applying to certain schools for religious reasons.
  • Ofsted number and Ofsted report
  • Open day or information event dates for admissions into the school
  • Link to schools SEND local offer information
  • School's contact details and website link
Screen shot of the Peterborough Information Network schools directory

Looking at the previous years allocation data can also help you understand at what point a school became oversubscribed. Here’s how places were allocated last year, and the lowest admission criterion met. 

Think about travel and how you will get your child to school. Your preferences could affect your eligibility for home to school transport. 

Check that your information about a school is correct

  • Don't make your decision based on other people’s opinions or experiences. The right school for other children is not necessarily the right school for your child.
  • Your situation and priorities will be different and things change every year.
  • Understanding the admissions criteria of the schools you are applying for - will maximise your chances of an offer.
  • We encourage you to attend open days and talk to school staff to make an informed decision for your child.
  • Talk to your child about your decision.

What is a catchment school and why does it matter

Some of our schools have a defined catchment area. A catchment is a defined geographical area surrounding a school from which it will usually take most of its pupils. You can view the school and the catchment area on the directory listing.

  • In a small number of cases an address may be in the catchment area for a school that falls under a neighbouring Local Authority. If you are a ‘Peterborough resident’ you will make your application through the Peterborough Admissions Team.
  • Living within the catchment area of a school does not guarantee your child a place at that school if the school is oversubscribed.
  • Catchment and nearest school are based on the child's home address.

These secondary schools do not have a defined catchment area:

  • City of Peterborough Academy

  • Greater Peterborough UTC

  • Stanground Academy

  • St John Fisher Catholic High School

  • The King's (The Cathedral) School

  • Thomas Deacon Academy

Most schools use distance as part of their oversubscription criteria. For school place allocations, distances are calculated by measuring a straight line. To decide if a student can get home to school transport, we calculate that distance using the shortest walking route.

We use 'OS AddressBase Premium' to calculate distance from the child's home address to the school gate. To measure distance for people outside Peterborough, we use both local maps and online resources.

You can find the furthest distance that places were offered at each school in previous years.

We recommend that you name your catchment school as one of your three preferences. This is the school most likely to offer your child a place. Be aware there is no guarantee of a place at any school even if you live in the catchment area. There is no automatic offer of a sibling place without making an application.

Types of schools in Peterborough

Some types of schools have additional admissions requirements, or manage their own admissions.

The council owns and maintains community schools. We set the admissions policy, including criteria for allocating places. All applications are managed by Peterborough Admissions team.

Voluntary controlled schools were originally set up by bodies such as Church of England or Roman Catholic Church but are now maintained by the council. We set the admissions policy, including criteria for allocating places. All applications are managed by Peterborough Admissions team.

The council maintains voluntary aided (church) schools by paying the teachers' salaries and the day-to-day running costs of the schools. The diocese generally owns the buildings. Schools are either Roman Catholic (RC) or Church of England (CofE). The governing body of the school sets the admission policy and criteria.

If applying to a voluntary aided (church) schools you must still apply online to the council.

The following schools give priority on religious grounds and require an additional ‘supplementary information form’ (SIF) to be completed.

  • All Saints
  • Kings
  • St John Fisher

The completion of a SIF will ensure that the correct admissions criteria is applied alongside your application. SIF’s must be returned directly to the school by their deadline. Please ensure that a receipt is collected from the school as proof of submitting your SIF.

An academy is a school that is run by an academy trust and its governors.

This means the Academy Trust determines its own oversubscription criteria and some of them run their own 'in-year allocations'. However, for transition applications (entry to year 7), Peterborough Admissions team process the allocations for these schools.

Free schools are independent of the local authority. We do not process transition applications for these schools.

University Technical Colleges (UTCs) are secondary schools and Sixth Forms. 

Greater Peterborough UTC offers specialisms in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) as well as Architecture and Design. The governing bodies of UTCs determine and publish their own oversubscription criteria.

Applications for places in Year 9, 10 and 12 should be made directly to the Greater Peterborough UTC.

Most secondary schools in Peterborough offer sixth form provision. The council does not co-ordinate admissions to any post 16 establishments. All applications for places in a school's sixth form must be made directly to the school concerned. Please contact the schools with sixth forms for further information.

Further research you could do:

Published: 11 September 2024