Central Foundation Boys' School
Voluntary aided school in London, EC2A 4SH, taking ages 11 to 18, boys, 1,152 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 1.34 miles Islington published for 2026/27, as the checker measures.
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Will an address get in?
In 2026/27, the furthest child offered a place lived 1.34 miles away.
Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close 31 October 2026; offers on 1 March 2027.
How this compares: every Islington school's distance, tightest first →
The circle is 1.34 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2026/27.
Central Foundation Boys' School: 1.34 miles, 2026/27 St Peter and St Paul Catholic Primary School: 0.15 miles, 2026/27, published by Islington
How to read this
Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When Central Foundation Boys' 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: 2026/27, from Islington. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.
Source: Islington, published admission distances, 2026/27
Where Central Foundation Boys' School and St Peter and St Paul Catholic Primary School are both in reach
Both distances are drawn on the map above. St Peter and St Paul Catholic Primary School admitted from 0.15 miles in 2026/27, published by Islington. Its own page has the rest of its figures.
No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 1.34 and 0.15 miles, and the ground those circles share holds no district centre, which is a fact about where the centres fall rather than about any one address. The map above shows both, and the postcode checker answers for both.
Sign up to save both schools and be told when either council republishes the distance these answers rest on.
Drop St Peter and St Paul Catholic Primary School and go back to one school.
If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Islington, 6 of 51 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (11.8%; 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 Central Foundation Boys' School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of London Primary Academy, Islington Both in reach | Primary | 0.61 mi 2026/27 | 0.5 mi |
| Hoxton Garden Primary Both in reach | Primary | 3.46 mi 2024/25 | 0.6 mi |
| St Peter and St Paul Catholic Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.15 mi 2026/27 | 0.6 mi |
| Thomas Fairchild Community School Both in reach | Primary | 0.38 mi 2024/25 | 0.6 mi |
| Shoreditch Park Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.49 mi 2024/25 | 0.7 mi |
| Hanover Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.34 mi 2026/27 | 0.8 mi |
The distance as a picture
What kind of school this is
| Admissions | Non-selective |
| Religious character | No religious character |
| Sixth form | Has a sixth form |
| How full | 1,152 pupils in 1,050 places (110% full, over capacity) |
| Local authority | Islington |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Attainment 8 | 55.2 (2024/25) |
| Year | Progress 8 |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | not published |
| 2023/24 | +0.56 |
| 2022/23 | +0.55 |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to Central Foundation Boys' School
| Girls and boys | 7.4% girls, 92.6% boys |
| English as an additional language | 27.8% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 42.0% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
Where Central Foundation Boys' School's Year 11 went next
| Stayed for the sixth form | 62.8% |
| Sixth-form college | 3.7% |
| Further education college | 26.8% |
| Apprenticeship | 2.4% |
| Employment | 1.2% |
| No sustained destination recorded | 2.4% |
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 Central Foundation Boys' School
Cheapest district inside the 1.34 miles: EC3V, median £249,500. Dearest: EC2R, £1,900,000.
| District | Area | From the school | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|
| EC3V | City of London | 0.8 mi | £249,500 38 sales |
| EC1Y | Islington | 0.3 mi | £561,000 23 sales |
| EC1A | Islington | 0.9 mi | £575,000 27 sales |
| EC1V | Islington | 0.5 mi | £640,000 52 sales |
| EC2N | City of London | 0.7 mi | £700,000 5 sales |
| EC2A | Islington | 0.1 mi | £753,500 19 sales |
| EC1M | Islington | 0.8 mi | £840,000 20 sales |
| EC2Y | City of London | 0.5 mi | £880,000 127 sales |
| EC3A | City of London | 0.8 mi | £1,805,000 10 sales |
| EC2R | City of London | 0.7 mi | £1,900,000 5 sales |
How to read this
The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 1.34 miles the school admitted from in 2026/27, 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 Central Foundation Boys' School by bus
Best-served stop: City Road / Leonard Street, 175 yd away, with 38.2 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 00:22, last 00:34.
Every stop within 600 m
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shoreditch Fire Station | 101 yd | 18.4 | 15.8 | 16.2 | 243, 135, 205 |
| Old Street Station | 106 yd | 25.9 | 23.2 | 22.1 | 55, 243, 135, 205 |
| City Road / Leonard Street | 175 yd | 38.2 | 29.8 | 26.4 | 141, 214, 43, 21, 76 |
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 Central Foundation Boys' School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around EC2A: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at EC2A 4SH, 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 Central Foundation Boys' School?
Central Foundation Boys' 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 2026/27 lived 1.34 miles away, per Islington.
How close do I need to live to get a place at Central Foundation Boys' School?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 1.34 miles was enough in 2026/27, and at 110% full the school has little slack. 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 Central Foundation Boys' 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 Islington school's distance
All Islington schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →
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Admission distance published by Islington. 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.