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Archway School

Community school in Stroud, GL5 4AX, taking ages 11 to 18, 1,053 on roll.

Report card Ofsted, Apr 2026
8.52 mi Admitted from, 2024/25
87% Full
43.3 Attainment 8, 2024/25

Will an address get in?

In 2024/25, the furthest child offered a place lived 8.52 miles away.

Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close 31 October 2026; offers on 1 March 2027.

The circle is 8.52 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2024/25.

This is not a catchment area. 8.52 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 Archway 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.

One published year so far: 2024/25, from Gloucestershire. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.

Source: Gloucestershire, published admission distances, 2024/25

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 Gloucestershire, 140 of 543 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (25.8%; 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 Archway School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
Marling School Secondary No limit 2024/25 0.4 mi
Stroud High School Secondary No limit 2024/25 0.4 mi
The Rosary Catholic Primary School Primary No limit 2024/25 0.8 mi
Whiteshill Primary School Both in reach Primary 6.45 mi 2024/25 0.8 mi
Uplands Community Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.48 mi 2024/25 1.1 mi
Stroud Valley Community Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.65 mi 2024/25 1.2 mi

The distance as a picture

Archway School catchment area map: the 8.52 mile admission distance, 2024/25 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

AdmissionsNon-selective
Religious characterNo religious character
Sixth formHas a sixth form
How full 1,053 pupils in 1,215 places (87% full)
Local authorityGloucestershire

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Report card, April 2026: 1 at the expected standard, 6 needing attention or urgent improvement
Report card
  • Safeguarding Met
  • Inclusion Needs attention
  • Curriculum and teaching Needs attention
  • Achievement Needs attention
  • Attendance and behaviour Needs attention
  • Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
  • Early years Not applicable
  • Post-16 provision Needs attention
  • Leadership and governance Needs attention
Ofsted stopped giving schools a single overall grade in 2024; from November 2025 each area is judged on this five-point scale.
Attainment 8 43.3 (2024/25)
YearProgress 8
2024/25 not published
2023/24 -0.36
2022/23 -0.23

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

Who goes to Archway School

Girls and boys48.3% girls, 51.7% boys
English as an additional language8.1% of pupils
Free school meals26.9% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

Where Archway School's Year 11 went next

Stayed for the sixth form38.8%
Sixth-form college15.0%
Further education college28.8%
Apprenticeship4.4%
Employment6.3%
No sustained destination recorded3.8%

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 Archway School

Cheapest district inside the 8.52 miles: GL1, median £155,000. Dearest: GL8, £375,000.

DistrictAreaFrom the schoolMedian sold price
GL1 Gloucester 7.5 mi £155,000 122 sales
GL4 Gloucester 6.2 mi £220,000 67 sales
GL2 Gloucester 6.6 mi £265,000 113 sales
GL10 Stroud 2.2 mi £280,000 103 sales
GL11 Stroud 6.6 mi £322,500 103 sales
GL3 Tewkesbury 8.2 mi £337,500 22 sales
GL5 Stroud 1.1 mi £355,000 75 sales
GL6 Stroud 2.2 mi £360,000 55 sales
GL8 Cotswold 8.0 mi £375,000 116 sales
How to read this

The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 8.52 miles the school admitted from in 2024/25, 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 Archway School by bus

Best-served stop: Church of the Holy Spirit, 0.2 mi away, with 3.5 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 06:30, last 19:36.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
Archway School Grounds119 yd0.10.00.066
Memorial Arch166 yd1.10.20.463
Memorial Arch170 yd1.00.20.463

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 Archway School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around GL5: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at GL5 4AX, 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 Archway School?

Archway 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 2024/25 lived 8.52 miles away, per Gloucestershire.

How close do I need to live to get a place at Archway School?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 8.52 miles was enough in 2024/25. 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 Archway 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 Gloucestershire school's distance

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

Put Archway 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.

Show the badge and its code

Archway School badge

Admission distance published by Gloucestershire. 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.