St Damian's RC Science College
Voluntary aided school in Ashton-under-Lyne, OL6 8BH, taking ages 11 to 16, 829 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 4.22 miles Tameside published for latest published year, as the checker measures.
Opened on this device and kept on it only: just their postcodes are sent, to this site, to measure them.
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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.
How this compares: every Tameside school's distance, tightest first →
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 West Hill School: 1.39 miles, published by Tameside
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 West Hill School are both in reach
Both distances are drawn on the map above. West Hill School admitted from 1.39 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 OL6 at £150,000; the dearest shown, SK16, £205,000. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list.
| District | Area | From St Damian's RC Science College | From West Hill School | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OL6 | Tameside | 1.1 mi | 1.0 mi | £150,000 97 sales |
| SK15 | Tameside | 2.0 mi | 0.8 mi | £160,000 149 sales |
| SK16 | Tameside | 2.4 mi | 1.1 mi | £205,000 102 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.
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Drop West Hill 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.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holden Clough Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.91 mi | 0.3 mi |
| Our Lady of Mount Carmel RC Primary School, Ashton-under-Lyne Both in reach | Primary | 0.47 mi | 1.2 mi |
| Canon Burrows CofE Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 1.67 mi | 1.3 mi |
| Livingstone Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 1.31 mi | 1.3 mi |
| St James' Church of England Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.85 mi | 1.3 mi |
| West Hill School Both in reach | Secondary | 1.39 mi | 1.6 mi |
The distance as a picture
What kind of school this is
| Admissions | Non-selective |
| Religious character | Roman Catholic |
| Sixth form | Does not have a sixth form |
| How full | 829 pupils in 825 places (100% full) |
| Local authority | Tameside |
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) |
| Year | Progress 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 boys | 52.8% girls, 47.2% boys |
| English as an additional language | 21.1% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 25.9% 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 form | 5.7% |
| Sixth-form college | 48.3% |
| Further education college | 35.1% |
| Apprenticeship | 2.3% |
| Employment | 2.9% |
| No sustained destination recorded | 4.0% |
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.
| District | Area | From the school | Median 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
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Damian's RC Science College | 51 yd | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 770, 775 |
| St Damian's RC Science College | 78 yd | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 771, 864, 870 |
| St Damian's RC Science College | 95 yd | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 803 |
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 →
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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.