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Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School

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Voluntary aided school in Reading, RG30 3EP, taking ages 11 to 18, 1,082 on roll.

No current grade Ofsted
1.0 mi Admitted from, 2025/26
117% Full, over capacity

Will an address get in?

In the 2025/26 round, the furthest-away child offered a place at Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School lived 1.0 miles away, according to Reading. Put a postcode in and it is measured against that distance.

Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close on 31 October 2026, with offers on 1 March 2027. The address on the deadline is the one the council uses. How it works.

The circle is 1.0 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2025/26. Real admission areas are not circular: this is the distance, not a boundary.

This is not a catchment area. Most English schools do not have one. When Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic 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. 1.0 miles was last year's outcome, not a boundary and not a promise.

What kind of school this is

AdmissionsNon-selective
Religious characterRoman Catholic
Sixth formHas a sixth form
How full 1,082 pupils in 922 places (117% full, over capacity)
Local authorityReading

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Attainment 8 46.0 (2024/25)
YearProgress 8
2024/25 not published
2023/24 -0.02
2022/23 +0.12

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

Who goes to Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School

Girls and boys49.5% girls, 50.5% boys
English as an additional language37.8% of pupils
Free school meals20.1% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

Where Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School's Year 11 went next

Stayed for the sixth form49.7%
Sixth-form college15.7%
Further education college26.8%
Apprenticeship2.6%
Employment0.7%
No sustained destination recorded2.6%

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 Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School

The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 1.0 miles the school admitted from in 2025/26, cheapest first, by the median of real sales around each district's centre. The cheapest is RG30 at £365,000. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list.

DistrictAreaFrom the schoolMedian sold price
RG30 Reading 0.6 mi £365,000 97 sales

Sold prices from HM Land Registry, via each district's area guide. Districts without enough recorded sales to rank are not shown.

The fee-paying alternative

Weighing Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around RG30: ages, selection, and how full each one is →

Checking the house as well as the school

The full report measures the distance from every nearby school to one address, alongside sold prices, flood risk, crime and the other checks on the same house.

Common questions

What is the catchment area for Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School?

Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic 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 2025/26 lived 1.0 miles away, per Reading.

How close do I need to live to get a place at Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 1.0 miles was enough in 2025/26, and at 117% 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 Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School 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 Reading school's distance

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

Admission distance published by Reading. 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.