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St Damian's RC Science College

Voluntary aided school in Ashton-under-Lyne, OL6 8BH, taking ages 11 to 16, 829 on roll.

Outstanding Ofsted, Jul 2023
4.22 mi Admitted from, latest published year
100% Full
55.1 Attainment 8, 2024/25

Will an address get in?

In the latest published round, the furthest child offered a place lived 4.22 miles away.

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

The circle is 4.22 miles, the distance the school admitted from in the latest published year.

St Damian's RC Science College: 4.22 miles Livingstone Primary School: 1.31 miles, published by Tameside

This is not a catchment area. 4.22 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 St Damian's RC Science College 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 and faith criteria 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.

Source: Tameside, published admission distances

Where St Damian's RC Science College and Livingstone Primary School are both in reach

Both distances are drawn on the map above. Livingstone Primary School admitted from 1.31 miles in the latest published year, published by Tameside. 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 OL5 at £185,000. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list.

DistrictAreaFrom St Damian's RC Science CollegeFrom Livingstone Primary SchoolMedian sold price
OL5 Tameside 1.7 mi 0.4 mi £185,000 104 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.

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

Drop Livingstone Primary School and go back to one school.

If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Tameside, 29 of 206 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (14.1%; 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 St Damian's RC Science College that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

The distance as a picture

St Damian's RC Science College catchment area map: the 4.22 mile admission distance 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 characterRoman Catholic
Sixth formDoes not have a sixth form
How full 829 pupils in 825 places (100% full)
Local authorityTameside

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Outstanding, inspected 17 July 2023. Ungraded inspection, July 2023: school remains Outstanding
Attainment 8 55.1 (2024/25)
YearProgress 8
2024/25 not published
2023/24 +0.24
2022/23 +0.50

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

Who goes to St Damian's RC Science College

Girls and boys52.8% girls, 47.2% boys
English as an additional language21.1% of pupils
Free school meals25.9% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

Where St Damian's RC Science College's Year 11 went next

Stayed for the sixth form5.7%
Sixth-form college48.3%
Further education college35.1%
Apprenticeship2.3%
Employment2.9%
No sustained destination recorded4.0%

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 St Damian's RC Science College

Cheapest district inside the 4.22 miles: OL1, median £132,000. Dearest: M43, £220,000.

DistrictAreaFrom the schoolMedian sold price
OL1 Oldham 3.1 mi £132,000 52 sales
OL6 Tameside 1.1 mi £150,000 97 sales
OL8 Oldham 2.0 mi £150,000 96 sales
SK15 Tameside 2.0 mi £160,000 149 sales
OL7 Tameside 1.8 mi £170,000 38 sales
OL9 Oldham 3.5 mi £172,000 92 sales
M34 Tameside 4.0 mi £175,000 73 sales
M35 Oldham 3.2 mi £180,000 105 sales
OL5 Tameside 1.7 mi £185,000 104 sales
SK16 Tameside 2.4 mi £205,000 102 sales
OL4 Oldham 2.3 mi £210,000 123 sales
M43 Tameside 3.5 mi £220,000 82 sales
How to read this

The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 4.22 miles the school admitted from in the latest published year, 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 St Damian's RC Science College by bus

Best-served stop: Lily Lanes, 152 yd away, with 0.5 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 08:00, last 15:49.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
St Damian's RC Science College51 yd0.20.00.0770, 775
St Damian's RC Science College78 yd0.20.00.0771, 864, 870
St Damian's RC Science College95 yd0.10.00.0803

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 St Damian's RC Science College against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around OL6: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at OL6 8BH, 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 St Damian's RC Science College?

St Damian's RC Science College 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 the latest published year lived 4.22 miles away, per Tameside.

How close do I need to live to get a place at St Damian's RC Science College?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 4.22 miles was enough in the latest published year, and at 100% 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 St Damian's RC Science College guarantee a place?

No. Admission criteria usually put looked-after children, siblings and faith criteria 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 Tameside school's distance

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

Put St Damian's RC Science College'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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Admission distance published by Tameside. 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.