The Priory School
Sign up to save this school and be told when Hertfordshire republishes its distance.
Foundation school in Hitchin, SG5 2UR, taking ages 11 to 18, 1,221 on roll.
Will an address get in?
In the varies round, the furthest-away child offered a place at The Priory School lived 352.41210682640093 miles away, according to Hertfordshire. Put a postcode in and it is measured against that distance.
Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close on 31 October 2026, with offers on 1 March 2027. The address on the deadline is the one the council uses. How it works.
The circle is 352.41210682640093 miles, the distance the school admitted from in varies. Real admission areas are not circular: this is the distance, not a boundary.
What kind of school this is
| Admissions | Non-selective |
| Religious character | No religious character |
| Sixth form | Has a sixth form |
| How full | 1,221 pupils in 1,300 places (94% full) |
| Local authority | Hertfordshire |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Attainment 8 | 48.5 (2024/25) |
| Year | Progress 8 |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | not published |
| 2023/24 | -0.05 |
| 2022/23 | -0.07 |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to The Priory School
| Girls and boys | 48.3% girls, 51.7% boys |
| English as an additional language | 7.5% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 23.7% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
Where The Priory School's Year 11 went next
| Stayed for the sixth form | 55.6% |
| Sixth-form college | 1.0% |
| Further education college | 29.8% |
| Apprenticeship | 3.9% |
| Employment | 1.5% |
| No sustained destination recorded | 5.9% |
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 The Priory School
The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 352.41210682640093 miles the school admitted from in varies, cheapest first, by the median of real sales around each district's centre. The cheapest is SG15 at £322,500; the dearest, SG5, £660,000. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list.
| District | Area | From the school | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|
| SG15 | Central Bedfordshire | 3.6 mi | £322,500 101 sales |
| SG16 | Central Bedfordshire | 3.6 mi | £325,000 91 sales |
| LU2 | Luton | 6.8 mi | £327,500 169 sales |
| LU3 | Luton | 7.7 mi | £335,000 147 sales |
| SG2 | Stevenage | 6.8 mi | £348,000 126 sales |
| SG17 | Central Bedfordshire | 5.4 mi | £362,500 171 sales |
| SG1 | Stevenage | 5.0 mi | £365,000 78 sales |
| SG6 | North Hertfordshire | 2.8 mi | £421,300 37 sales |
| SG3 | North Hertfordshire | 8.3 mi | £442,000 111 sales |
| SG5 | North Hertfordshire | 0.7 mi | £660,000 80 sales |
Sold prices from HM Land Registry, via each district's area guide. Districts without enough recorded sales to rank are not shown.
The fee-paying alternative
Weighing The Priory School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around SG5: ages, selection, and how full each one is →
Checking the house as well as the school
The full report measures the distance from every nearby school to one address, alongside sold prices, flood risk, crime and the other checks on the same house.
Common questions
What is the catchment area for The Priory School?
The Priory 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 varies lived 352.41210682640093 miles away, per Hertfordshire.
How close do I need to live to get a place at The Priory School?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 352.41210682640093 miles was enough in varies. 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 The Priory 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 →
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.