Highwood Primary School
Community school in Chelmsford, CM1 3QH, taking ages 4 to 11, 66 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 0.62 miles Essex 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 0.62 miles away.
Applying for September 2027? Primary applications close 15 January 2027; offers on 16 April 2027.
How this compares: every Essex school's distance, tightest first →
The circle is 0.62 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2025/26.
Highwood Primary School: 0.62 miles, 2025/26 Lawford Mead Primary & Nursery: 2.42 miles, 2025/26, published by Essex
How to read this
Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When Highwood Primary 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 address on the closing date is the one the council uses. How admissions work.
One published year so far: 2025/26, from Essex. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.
Source: Essex, published admission distances, 2025/26
Where Highwood Primary School and Lawford Mead Primary & Nursery are both in reach
Both distances are drawn on the map above. Lawford Mead Primary & Nursery admitted from 2.42 miles in 2025/26, published by Essex. Its own page has the rest of its figures.
No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 0.62 and 2.42 miles, and the ground those circles share holds no district centre, which is a fact about where the centres fall rather than about any one address. The map above shows both, and the postcode checker answers for both.
Sign up to save both schools and be told when either council republishes the distance these answers rest on.
Drop Lawford Mead Primary & Nursery and go back to one school.
If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Essex, 99 of 645 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (15.3%; 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 Highwood Primary School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Writtle Infant School Both in reach | Primary | 1.16 mi 2025/26 | 2.4 mi |
| Writtle Junior School Both in reach | Primary | 3.56 mi 2025/26 | 2.4 mi |
| Ingatestone Infant School Both in reach | Primary | 7.3 mi 2025/26 | 2.5 mi |
| Blackmore Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 3.15 mi 2025/26 | 2.8 mi |
| Lawford Mead Primary & Nursery Both in reach | Primary | 2.42 mi 2025/26 | 3.8 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 | 66 pupils in 70 places (94% full) |
| Local authority | Essex |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Ofsted | Good, inspected 17 January 2023 |
| Meeting the expected standard | 25.0% in reading, writing and maths (2024/25) |
| Year | Meeting the expected standard |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 25.0% |
| 2023/24 | not published |
| 2022/23 | 75.0% |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to Highwood Primary School
| Girls and boys | 59.1% girls, 40.9% boys |
| English as an additional language | 1.5% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 27.3% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
Getting to Highwood Primary School by bus
Best-served stop: Primary School, 73 yd away, with 0.5 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 07:45, last 19:03.
Every stop within 600 m
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary School | 67 yd | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 32 |
| Primary School | 73 yd | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 32 |
| Sparrows Close | 0.2 mi | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 32 |
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 Highwood Primary School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around CM1: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at CM1 3QH, 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 Highwood Primary School?
Highwood Primary 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 0.62 miles away, per Essex.
How close do I need to live to get a place at Highwood Primary School?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 0.62 miles was enough in 2025/26. 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 Highwood Primary 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 Essex school's distance
All Essex schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →
Put Highwood Primary 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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Admission distance published by Essex. 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.