Ferndown Upper School
Community school in Ferndown, BH22 9EY, taking ages 13 to 19, 1,134 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 5.15 miles Dorset published for 2025/26, 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 2025/26, the furthest child offered a place lived 5.15 miles away.
Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close 31 October 2026; offers on 1 March 2027.
How this compares: every Dorset school's distance, tightest first →
The circle is 5.15 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2025/26.
Ferndown Upper School: 5.15 miles, 2025/26 West Moors Middle School: 5.23 miles, 2025/26, published by Dorset
How to read this
Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When Ferndown Upper 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: 2025/26, from Dorset. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.
Source: Dorset, published admission distances, 2025/26
Where Ferndown Upper School and West Moors Middle School are both in reach
Both distances are drawn on the map above. West Moors Middle School admitted from 5.23 miles in 2025/26, published by Dorset. 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 BH11 at £324,880; the dearest shown, BH21, £500,000. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list.
| District | Area | From Ferndown Upper School | From West Moors Middle School | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BH11 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 3.1 mi | 4.4 mi | £324,880 60 sales |
| BH9 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 4.1 mi | 4.9 mi | £330,000 96 sales |
| BH10 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 3.2 mi | 4.3 mi | £370,000 88 sales |
| BH31 | Dorset | 5.0 mi | 3.9 mi | £372,500 143 sales |
| BH22 | Dorset | 0.6 mi | 1.2 mi | £373,276 134 sales |
| BH21 | Dorset | 3.2 mi | 4.4 mi | £500,000 66 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 West Moors Middle School and go back to one school.
If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Dorset, 34 of 105 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (32.4%; 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 Ferndown Upper School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parley First School Both in reach | Primary | 1.42 mi 2025/26 | 1.0 mi |
| Oakhurst Community First School Both in reach | Primary | 1.17 mi 2025/26 | 1.5 mi |
| West Moors Middle School Both in reach | Secondary | 5.23 mi 2025/26 | 1.5 mi |
| Hayeswood First School Both in reach | Primary | 0.81 mi 2025/26 | 2.1 mi |
| Colehill First School Both in reach | Primary | 1.02 mi 2025/26 | 2.2 mi |
| St Michael's Church of England Middle School, Colehill Both in reach | Secondary | 3.43 mi 2025/26 | 2.8 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 | 1,134 pupils in 1,146 places (99% full) |
| Local authority | Dorset |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Ofsted | Report card, March 2026: 5 areas strong or exceptional, 2 at the expected standard |
| Report card |
|
| Attainment 8 | 45.7 (2024/25) |
| Year | Progress 8 |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | not published |
| 2023/24 | +0.34 |
| 2022/23 | +0.72 |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to Ferndown Upper School
| Girls and boys | 50.2% girls, 49.8% boys |
| English as an additional language | 5.9% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 19.5% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
Where Ferndown Upper School's Year 11 went next
| Stayed for the sixth form | 60.9% |
| Sixth-form college | 0.0% |
| Further education college | 25.3% |
| Apprenticeship | 1.3% |
| Employment | 3.6% |
| No sustained destination recorded | 5.8% |
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 Ferndown Upper School
Cheapest district inside the 5.15 miles: BH8, median £295,000. Dearest: BH21, £500,000.
| District | Area | From the school | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|
| BH8 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 4.9 mi | £295,000 99 sales |
| BH12 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 4.9 mi | £312,500 128 sales |
| BH3 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 4.9 mi | £318,000 88 sales |
| BH11 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 3.1 mi | £324,880 60 sales |
| BH9 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 4.1 mi | £330,000 96 sales |
| BH10 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 3.2 mi | £370,000 88 sales |
| BH31 | Dorset | 5.0 mi | £372,500 143 sales |
| BH22 | Dorset | 0.6 mi | £373,276 134 sales |
| BH21 | Dorset | 3.2 mi | £500,000 66 sales |
How to read this
The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 5.15 miles the school admitted from in 2025/26, 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 Ferndown Upper School by bus
Best-served stop: Pure Drop Inn, 0.1 mi away, with 3.0 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 06:06, last 00:36 after midnight.
Every stop within 600 m
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Church Road | 0.1 mi | 2.8 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 13, 13A |
| Pure Drop Inn | 0.1 mi | 3.0 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 13, 13A, 704 |
| Pure Drop Inn | 0.2 mi | 3.0 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 13, 13A, 704, 95 |
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 Ferndown Upper School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around BH22: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at BH22 9EY, 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 Ferndown Upper School?
Ferndown Upper 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 5.15 miles away, per Dorset.
How close do I need to live to get a place at Ferndown Upper School?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 5.15 miles was enough in 2025/26, and at 99% 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 Ferndown Upper 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 Dorset school's distance
All Dorset schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →
Put Ferndown Upper School's figure on your own site
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Admission distance published by Dorset. 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.