West Moors Middle School
Community school in Ferndown, BH22 0DA, taking ages 9 to 13, 240 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 5.23 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 5.23 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 5.23 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2025/26.
West Moors Middle School: 5.23 miles, 2025/26 St Ives Primary & Nursery School: 2.6 miles, 2025/26, published by Dorset
How to read this
Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When West Moors Middle 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 West Moors Middle School and St Ives Primary & Nursery School are both in reach
Both distances are drawn on the map above. St Ives Primary & Nursery School admitted from 2.6 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 BH24 at £230,000. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list.
| District | Area | From West Moors Middle School | From St Ives Primary & Nursery School | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BH24 | New Forest | 4.1 mi | 1.6 mi | £230,000 98 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 St Ives Primary & Nursery 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 West Moors Middle School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oakhurst Community First School Both in reach | Primary | 1.17 mi 2025/26 | 0.2 mi |
| Ferndown Upper School Both in reach | Secondary | 5.15 mi 2025/26 | 1.5 mi |
| Parley First School Both in reach | Primary | 1.42 mi 2025/26 | 2.0 mi |
| St Ives Primary & Nursery School Both in reach | Primary | 2.6 mi 2025/26 | 2.6 mi |
The distance as a picture
What kind of school this is
| Religious character | No religious character |
| Sixth form | Does not have a sixth form |
| How full | 240 pupils in 240 places (100% full) |
| Local authority | Dorset |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Ofsted | Report card, June 2026: 2 areas strong or exceptional, 4 at the expected standard |
| Report card |
|
| Meeting the expected standard | 49.0% in reading, writing and maths (2024/25) |
| Year | Meeting the expected standard |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 49.0% |
| 2023/24 | 54.0% |
| 2022/23 | 53.0% |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to West Moors Middle School
| Girls and boys | 53.8% girls, 46.2% boys |
| English as an additional language | 7.1% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 37.1% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
What it costs to live within reach of West Moors Middle School
Cheapest district inside the 5.23 miles: BH24, median £230,000. Dearest: BH21, £500,000.
| District | Area | From the school | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|
| BH24 | New Forest | 4.1 mi | £230,000 98 sales |
| BH11 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 4.4 mi | £324,880 60 sales |
| BH9 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 4.9 mi | £330,000 96 sales |
| BH10 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 4.3 mi | £370,000 88 sales |
| BH31 | Dorset | 3.9 mi | £372,500 143 sales |
| BH22 | Dorset | 1.2 mi | £373,276 134 sales |
| BH21 | Dorset | 4.4 mi | £500,000 66 sales |
How to read this
The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 5.23 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 West Moors Middle School by bus
Best-served stop: Elmhurst Road, 0.1 mi away, with 1.0 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 07:08, last 19:28.
Every stop within 600 m
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elmhurst Road | 161 yd | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.4 | X6 |
| Elmhurst Road | 0.1 mi | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.4 | X6 |
| Abbey Road | 0.2 mi | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.4 | X6 |
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 West Moors Middle 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 0DA, 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 West Moors Middle School?
West Moors Middle 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 5.23 miles away, per Dorset.
How close do I need to live to get a place at West Moors Middle School?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 5.23 miles was enough in 2025/26, 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 West Moors Middle 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 West Moors Middle 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.