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William Ellis School

Voluntary aided school in London, NW5 1RN, taking ages 11 to 18, boys, 771 on roll.

No current grade Ofsted
2.17 mi Admitted from, 2024
86% Full
48.2 Attainment 8, 2024/25

Will an address get in?

In 2024, the furthest child offered a place lived 2.17 miles away.

Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close 31 October 2026; offers on 1 March 2027.

The circle is 2.17 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2024.

William Ellis School: 2.17 miles, 2024 Highgate School: 1.62 miles, published by Haringey

This is not a catchment area. 2.17 miles was last year's outcome, not a boundary and not a promise.
How to read this

Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When William Ellis School is oversubscribed, places go outward from the school until they run out, so the distance moves each year with how many families applied and where they lived.

Distances are measured from the postcode's centre, not a front door; a postcode covers a few houses. Siblings, looked-after children come before distance, so a school can fill before distance counts at all.

Real admission areas are not circular: the circle is the distance, not a boundary. The labels on the map are postcode districts whose centre falls inside both circles; each opens the district's guide.

The address on the closing date is the one the council uses. How admissions work.

One published year so far: 2024, from Camden. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.

Source: Camden, published admission distances, 2024

Where William Ellis School and Highgate School are both in reach

Both distances are drawn on the map above. Highgate School admitted from 1.62 miles in the latest published year, published by Haringey. Its own page has the rest of its figures.

The postcode districts whose centre falls inside both published distances, cheapest first by the median of real sales around each district's centre. The cheapest is N19 at £570,000; the dearest shown, N6, £880,000. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list.

DistrictAreaFrom William Ellis SchoolFrom Highgate SchoolMedian sold price
N19 Islington 1.0 mi 1.0 mi £570,000 118 sales
N8 Haringey 2.2 mi 1.5 mi £600,000 143 sales
N6 Haringey 1.0 mi 0.2 mi £880,000 114 sales

Sold prices from HM Land Registry, via each district's area guide. Distances measured from each district's centre to each school's point on the Department for Education register. 1 more district falls inside both without enough recorded sales to rank: NW5.

Sign up to save both schools and be told when either council republishes the distance these answers rest on.

Drop Highgate School and go back to one school.

If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Camden, 9 of 37 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (24.3%; England 19.9%), counted for all the council's schools together. How every council compares.

Other schools nearby with a published distance

The closest schools to William Ellis School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
Parliament Hill School Both in reach Secondary 1.14 mi 2024 0.1 mi
Acland Burghley School Both in reach Secondary 0.93 mi 2024 0.4 mi
Hargrave Park Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.42 mi 2026/27 0.6 mi
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.32 mi 2026/27 0.8 mi
Highgate School Both in reach Other 1.62 mi 0.9 mi
Yerbury Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.31 mi 2026/27 0.9 mi

The distance as a picture

William Ellis School catchment area map: the 2.17 mile admission distance, 2024 and the postcode districts inside it
Drawn to scale from the published figure, with the districts whose centre falls inside. Save the picture, or share this page and this is the card that appears.

What kind of school this is

AdmissionsNon-selective
Religious characterNo religious character
Sixth formHas a sixth form
How full 771 pupils in 895 places (86% full)
Local authorityCamden

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Attainment 8 48.2 (2024/25)
YearProgress 8
2024/25 not published
2023/24 -0.17
2022/23 -0.26

Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.

Who goes to William Ellis School

Girls and boys15.3% girls, 84.7% boys
English as an additional language31.1% of pupils
Free school meals51.6% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

Where William Ellis School's Year 11 went next

Stayed for the sixth form79.5%
Sixth-form college3.9%
Further education college9.4%
Apprenticeship0.0%
Employment0.8%
No sustained destination recorded2.4%

DfE destination measures, 2022/23. Broad categories only: the DfE does not publish which named schools or colleges pupils moved to.

What it costs to live within reach of William Ellis School

Cheapest district inside the 2.17 miles: N19, median £570,000. Dearest: NW3, £1,255,555.

DistrictAreaFrom the schoolMedian sold price
N19 Islington 1.0 mi £570,000 118 sales
N7 Islington 1.5 mi £570,000 113 sales
N8 Haringey 2.2 mi £600,000 143 sales
NW1 Camden 1.8 mi £725,000 49 sales
NW8 Westminster 2.1 mi £850,000 79 sales
N6 Haringey 1.0 mi £880,000 114 sales
N1C Camden 1.9 mi £1,075,000 60 sales
NW3 Camden 1.0 mi £1,255,555 36 sales
How to read this

The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 2.17 miles the school admitted from in 2024, cheapest first, by the median of real sales around each district's centre. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list. Districts without enough recorded sales to rank are not shown.

How this compares across England: what a tight gate costs, school by school.

Source: HM Land Registry sold prices, via each district's area guide

Getting to William Ellis School by bus

Best-served stop: William Ellis School, 160 yd away, with 19.1 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 00:01, last 23:58.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
William Ellis School160 yd19.114.215.1214, 88, C11
William Ellis School168 yd18.617.014.7214, 88, C11
Parliament Hill Fields0.1 mi5.53.84.6C11

These are scheduled departures, not buses observed running. Two stops on opposite sides of a road are two rows.

Source: operators' timetables on the Bus Open Data Service (Department for Transport), week of 8 Sep 2026

The fee-paying alternative

Weighing William Ellis School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around NW5: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at NW5 1RN, by the school: council tax, energy, prices, rent, stamp duty →

Checking the house as well as the school

The full report checks one address against every nearby school, with sold prices, flood risk and crime.

Common questions

What is the catchment area for William Ellis School?

William Ellis School does not have one in the sense most people mean. Like most English schools, an oversubscribed year offers places outward from the school until they run out. The nearest thing to an answer: the furthest child admitted in 2024 lived 2.17 miles away, per Camden.

How close do I need to live to get a place at William Ellis School?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 2.17 miles was enough in 2024. The distance moves every year with the number of applications, so treat last year's figure as evidence, not a promise.

Does buying a house near William Ellis School guarantee a place?

No. Admission criteria usually put looked-after children, siblings ahead of distance, so places can be filled before distance is reached. Councils also check that the address is genuinely where the child lives.

Every Camden school's distance

All Camden schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →

Put William Ellis School's figure on your own site

A small badge with the published distance that links back here, for a school website, parents' group or forum.

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William Ellis School badge

Admission distance published by Camden. School details from the Department for Education's register, ratings from Ofsted. Read how every figure on this site is sourced on the methodology page. If something here looks wrong, tell us and it goes on the accuracy log.