← School guide Admissions

Harbour Primary and Nursery School

Community school in Newhaven, BN9 9LX, taking ages 2 to 11, 473 on roll.

Ungraded Ungraded inspection, April 2025: standards maintained
1.04 mi Admitted from, latest published year
99% Full
74.0% Met the expected standard, 2024/25

Will an address get in?

In the latest published round, the furthest child offered a place lived 1.04 miles away.

Applying for September 2027? Primary applications close 15 January 2027; offers on 16 April 2027.

The circle is 1.04 miles, the distance the school admitted from in the latest published year.

This is not a catchment area. 1.04 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 Harbour Primary and Nursery 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 it; each opens the district's guide.

The address on the closing date is the one the council uses. How admissions work.

Source: East Sussex, published admission distances

Two schools, both in reach

Two children, or a first and second preference? Add a second school to see where both are in reach, cheapest districts first. Only a school with a published distance can be added.

If the answer is no, you can appeal. In East Sussex, 83 of 348 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (23.9%; 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 Harbour Primary and Nursery School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
Denton Community Primary School and Nursery Both in reach Primary 0.44 mi 1.0 mi
Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery Both in reach Primary 0.58 mi 1.9 mi

The distance as a picture

Harbour Primary and Nursery School catchment area map: the 1.04 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

Religious characterNo religious character
Sixth formDoes not have a sixth form
How full 473 pupils in 480 places (99% full)
Local authorityEast Sussex

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Ungraded inspection, April 2025: standards maintained
Meeting the expected standard 74.0% in reading, writing and maths (2024/25)
YearMeeting the expected standard
2024/25 74.0%
2023/24 68.0%
2022/23 71.0%

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

Who goes to Harbour Primary and Nursery School

Girls and boys49.5% girls, 50.5% boys
English as an additional language10.8% of pupils
Free school meals33.2% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

What it costs to live within reach of Harbour Primary and Nursery School

Cheapest district inside the 1.04 miles: BN9, median £251,500.

DistrictAreaFrom the schoolMedian sold price
BN9 Lewes 0.3 mi £251,500 79 sales
How to read this

The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 1.04 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 Harbour Primary and Nursery School by bus

Best-served stop: Elim Church, 0.2 mi away, with 9.9 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; the service runs through the night.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
First Avenue0.1 mi0.20.00.0145
The Rose Walk0.1 mi4.74.04.612, 14, 494
The Rose Walk0.1 mi4.86.24.312, 14, 123, 494

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 Harbour Primary and Nursery School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around BN9: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at BN9 9LX, 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 Harbour Primary and Nursery School?

Harbour Primary and Nursery 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 the latest published year lived 1.04 miles away, per East Sussex.

How close do I need to live to get a place at Harbour Primary and Nursery School?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 1.04 miles was enough in the latest published year, 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 Harbour Primary and Nursery 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 East Sussex school's distance

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

Put Harbour Primary and Nursery School'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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Harbour Primary and Nursery School badge

Admission distance published by East Sussex. 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.