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Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Voluntary controlled school in Bishop's Stortford, CM22 6DD, taking ages 4 to 11, 403 on roll.

Ungraded Ungraded inspection, December 2024: improved significantly
13.42 mi Admitted from, 2025/26
96% Full
78.0% Met the expected standard, 2024/25

Will an address get in?

In 2025/26, the furthest child offered a place lived 13.42 miles away.

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

The circle is 13.42 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2025/26.

Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School: 13.42 miles, 2025/26 Summercroft Primary School: 1.8 miles, published by Hertfordshire

This is not a catchment area. 13.42 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 Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled 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 and faith criteria 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 Essex. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.

Source: Essex, published admission distances, 2025/26

Where Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School and Summercroft Primary School are both in reach

Both distances are drawn on the map above. Summercroft Primary School admitted from 1.8 miles in the latest published year, published by Hertfordshire. 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 CM23 at £380,000. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list.

DistrictAreaFrom Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary SchoolFrom Summercroft Primary SchoolMedian sold price
CM23 East Hertfordshire 4.3 mi 1.0 mi £380,000 78 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 Summercroft Primary School 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 Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
Magna Carta Primary Academy Both in reach Primary 0.51 mi 2025/26 1.7 mi
Birchanger Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Both in reach Primary 4.28 mi 2025/26 2.7 mi
Rickling Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Both in reach Primary 3.87 mi 2025/26 2.8 mi
Summercroft Primary School Both in reach Primary 1.8 mi 3.6 mi

The distance as a picture

Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School catchment area map: the 13.42 mile admission distance, 2025/26 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 characterChurch of England
Sixth formDoes not have a sixth form
How full 403 pupils in 420 places (96% full)
Local authorityEssex

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Ungraded inspection, December 2024: improved significantly
Meeting the expected standard 78.0% in reading, writing and maths (2024/25)
YearMeeting the expected standard
2024/25 78.0%
2023/24 82.0%
2022/23 70.0%

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

Who goes to Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Girls and boys52.9% girls, 47.1% boys
English as an additional language1.5% of pupils
Free school meals9.7% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

What it costs to live within reach of Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Cheapest district inside the 13.42 miles: CM20, median £300,000. Dearest: SG10, £675,000.

DistrictAreaFrom the schoolMedian sold price
CM20 Harlow 11.1 mi £300,000 123 sales
CM24 Uttlesford 1.6 mi £375,000 118 sales
CM23 East Hertfordshire 4.3 mi £380,000 78 sales
CB10 Uttlesford 8.0 mi £395,000 129 sales
CM6 Uttlesford 6.1 mi £405,000 96 sales
CM21 East Hertfordshire 8.0 mi £426,000 101 sales
SG9 East Hertfordshire 10.7 mi £440,000 63 sales
CM17 Harlow 10.4 mi £450,000 154 sales
CB11 Uttlesford 5.9 mi £495,000 8 sales
SG11 East Hertfordshire 8.8 mi £540,000 25 sales
CM22 Uttlesford 3.2 mi £638,000 16 sales
SG10 East Hertfordshire 8.2 mi £675,000 30 sales
How to read this

The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 13.42 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 Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School by bus

Best-served stop: The Crown, 91 yd away, with 2.0 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 06:46, last 20:16.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
The Crown91 yd2.00.80.07BI, 7A, 7, 441
The Crown92 yd1.70.00.07A, 7, 7BI, 441
Glebe End0.2 mi0.10.00.0441

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 Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around CM22: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at CM22 6DD, 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 Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School?

Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled 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 13.42 miles away, per Essex.

How close do I need to live to get a place at Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 13.42 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 Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary 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 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 Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled 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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Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School badge

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.