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Spellbrook CofE Primary School

Voluntary controlled school in Bishop's Stortford, CM23 4BA, taking ages 3 to 11, 105 on roll.

Report card Ofsted, Feb 2026
5.05 mi Admitted from, latest published year
88% Full
53.0% Met the expected standard, 2024/25

Will an address get in?

In the latest published round, the furthest child offered a place lived 5.05 miles away.

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

The circle is 5.05 miles, the distance the school admitted from in the latest published year.

Spellbrook CofE Primary School: 5.05 miles Richard Whittington Primary School: 0.46 miles, published by Hertfordshire

This is not a catchment area. 5.05 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 Spellbrook CofE 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.

Source: Hertfordshire, published admission distances

Where Spellbrook CofE Primary School and Richard Whittington Primary School are both in reach

Both distances are drawn on the map above. Richard Whittington Primary School admitted from 0.46 miles in the latest published year, published by Hertfordshire. Its own page has the rest of its figures.

No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 5.05 and 0.46 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 Richard Whittington 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 Spellbrook CofE Primary School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

The distance as a picture

Spellbrook CofE Primary School catchment area map: the 5.05 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 characterChurch of England
Sixth formDoes not have a sixth form
How full 105 pupils in 120 places (88% full)
Local authorityHertfordshire

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Report card, February 2026: 7 at the expected standard
Report card
  • Safeguarding Met
  • Inclusion Expected standard
  • Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
  • Achievement Expected standard
  • Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
  • Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
  • Early years Expected standard
  • 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 53.0% in reading, writing and maths (2024/25)
YearMeeting the expected standard
2024/25 53.0%
2023/24 69.0%
2022/23 75.0%

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

Who goes to Spellbrook CofE Primary School

Girls and boys48.6% girls, 51.4% boys
English as an additional language13.3% of pupils
Free school meals16.2% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

What it costs to live within reach of Spellbrook CofE Primary School

Cheapest district inside the 5.05 miles: CM20, median £300,000. Dearest: SG10, £675,000.

DistrictAreaFrom the schoolMedian sold price
CM20 Harlow 4.7 mi £300,000 123 sales
CM24 Uttlesford 4.9 mi £375,000 118 sales
CM23 East Hertfordshire 2.7 mi £380,000 78 sales
CM21 East Hertfordshire 1.6 mi £426,000 101 sales
CM17 Harlow 4.2 mi £450,000 154 sales
CM22 Uttlesford 3.8 mi £638,000 16 sales
SG10 East Hertfordshire 3.5 mi £675,000 30 sales
How to read this

The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 5.05 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 Spellbrook CofE Primary School by bus

Best-served stop: Spellbrook Lane, 0.4 mi away, with 5.2 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; the service runs through the night.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
Spellbrook Lane0.3 mi5.22.51.9510, 509, 33, 509A, 510A, 33A
Tednambury Farm0.3 mi5.22.81.9509, 510, 33, 509A, 510A, 33A
Spellbrook Lane0.4 mi5.21.81.9509, 510, 33, 509A, 510A, 33A

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 Spellbrook CofE Primary School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around CM23: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at CM23 4BA, 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 Spellbrook CofE Primary School?

Spellbrook CofE 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 the latest published year lived 5.05 miles away, per Hertfordshire.

How close do I need to live to get a place at Spellbrook CofE Primary School?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 5.05 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 Spellbrook CofE 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 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 Spellbrook CofE 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 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.