← School guide Admissions

Almond Hill Junior School

Community school in Stevenage, SG1 3RP, taking ages 7 to 11, 347 on roll.

Report card Ofsted, Jan 2026
2.18 mi Admitted from, latest published year
96% Full
70.0% Met the expected standard, 2024/25

Will an address get in?

In the latest published round, the furthest child offered a place lived 2.18 miles away.

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

The circle is 2.18 miles, the distance the school admitted from in the latest published year.

Almond Hill Junior School: 2.18 miles Fairlands Primary School: 2.31 miles, published by Hertfordshire

This is not a catchment area. 2.18 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 Almond Hill Junior 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.

Source: Hertfordshire, published admission distances

Where Almond Hill Junior School and Fairlands Primary School are both in reach

Both distances are drawn on the map above. Fairlands Primary School admitted from 2.31 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 SG2 at £346,000; the dearest shown, SG1, £365,000. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list.

DistrictAreaFrom Almond Hill Junior SchoolFrom Fairlands Primary SchoolMedian sold price
SG2 Stevenage 2.0 mi 1.8 mi £346,000 133 sales
SG1 Stevenage 0.3 mi 0.3 mi £365,000 81 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 Fairlands Primary School and go back to one school.

If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Hertfordshire, 109 of 519 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (21.0%; 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 Almond Hill Junior School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
Barclay Academy Both in reach Secondary 3.59 mi 0.3 mi
Letchmore Infants' and Nursery School Both in reach Primary 1.81 mi 0.4 mi
Trotts Hill Primary and Nursery School Both in reach Primary 0.8 mi 0.4 mi
The Thomas Alleyne Academy Both in reach Secondary 1.44 mi 0.5 mi
Fairlands Primary School Both in reach Primary 2.31 mi 0.6 mi
Giles Junior School Both in reach Primary 1.47 mi 0.7 mi

The distance as a picture

Almond Hill Junior School catchment area map: the 2.18 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 347 pupils in 360 places (96% full)
Local authorityHertfordshire

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Report card, January 2026: 3 areas strong or exceptional, 3 at the expected standard
Report card
  • Safeguarding Met
  • Inclusion Strong standard
  • Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
  • Achievement Expected standard
  • Attendance and behaviour Strong standard
  • Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard
  • Early years Not applicable
  • Post-16 provision Not applicable
  • Leadership and governance Expected standard
Ofsted stopped giving schools a single overall grade in 2024; from November 2025 each area is judged on this five-point scale.
Meeting the expected standard 70.0% in reading, writing and maths (2024/25)
YearMeeting the expected standard
2024/25 70.0%
2023/24 62.0%
2022/23 51.0%

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

Who goes to Almond Hill Junior School

Girls and boys47.8% girls, 52.2% boys
English as an additional language8.4% of pupils
Free school meals20.5% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

What it costs to live within reach of Almond Hill Junior School

Cheapest district inside the 2.18 miles: SG2, median £346,000. Dearest: SG1, £365,000.

DistrictAreaFrom the schoolMedian sold price
SG2 Stevenage 2.0 mi £346,000 133 sales
SG1 Stevenage 0.3 mi £365,000 81 sales
How to read this

The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 2.18 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 Almond Hill Junior School by bus

Best-served stop: Trent Close, 0.2 mi away, with 3.1 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 06:27, last 23:07.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
Trent Close0.2 mi3.11.21.0SB2
Trent Close0.2 mi3.11.51.0SB3
Ellis Avenue0.2 mi0.60.00.0SB11

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 Almond Hill Junior School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around SG1: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at SG1 3RP, 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 Almond Hill Junior School?

Almond Hill Junior 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 2.18 miles away, per Hertfordshire.

How close do I need to live to get a place at Almond Hill Junior School?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 2.18 miles was enough in the latest published year. 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 Almond Hill Junior 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 Hertfordshire school's distance

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

Put Almond Hill Junior 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

Almond Hill Junior School badge

Admission distance published by Hertfordshire. 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.