← School guide Admissions

The Nobel School

Foundation school in Stevenage, SG2 0HS, taking ages 11 to 18, 1,475 on roll.

Good Ofsted, Sep 2023
2.8 mi Admitted from, latest published year
97% Full
50.2 Attainment 8, 2024/25

Will an address get in?

In the latest published round, the furthest child offered a place lived 2.8 miles away.

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

The circle is 2.8 miles, the distance the school admitted from in the latest published year.

The Nobel School: 2.8 miles Giles Junior School: 1.47 miles, published by Hertfordshire

This is not a catchment area. 2.8 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 The Nobel 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 The Nobel School and Giles Junior School are both in reach

Both distances are drawn on the map above. Giles Junior School admitted from 1.47 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 SG1 at £365,000. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list.

DistrictAreaFrom The Nobel SchoolFrom Giles Junior SchoolMedian sold price
SG1 Stevenage 1.2 mi 0.8 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 Giles Junior 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 The Nobel School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
Lodge Farm Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.6 mi 0.1 mi
Camps Hill Primary School Both in reach Primary 1.61 mi 0.3 mi
Moss Bury Primary School and Nursery Both in reach Primary 0.87 mi 0.5 mi
Marriotts School Both in reach Secondary 1.07 mi 0.6 mi
Martins Wood Primary School Both in reach Primary 3.06 mi 0.6 mi
Giles Junior School Both in reach Primary 1.47 mi 0.9 mi

The distance as a picture

The Nobel School catchment area map: the 2.8 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

AdmissionsNon-selective
Religious characterNo religious character
Sixth formHas a sixth form
How full 1,475 pupils in 1,526 places (97% full)
Local authorityHertfordshire

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Good, inspected 12 September 2023. Ungraded inspection, September 2023: school remains Good
Attainment 8 50.2 (2024/25)
YearProgress 8
2024/25 not published
2023/24 +0.38
2022/23 +0.40

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

Who goes to The Nobel School

Girls and boys51.0% girls, 49.0% boys
English as an additional language15.2% of pupils
Free school meals18.2% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

Where The Nobel School's Year 11 went next

Stayed for the sixth form52.6%
Sixth-form college0.4%
Further education college35.9%
Apprenticeship2.6%
Employment2.1%
No sustained destination recorded4.3%

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 Nobel School

Cheapest district inside the 2.8 miles: SG2, median £346,000. Dearest: SG1, £365,000.

DistrictAreaFrom the schoolMedian sold price
SG2 Stevenage 1.0 mi £346,000 133 sales
SG1 Stevenage 1.2 mi £365,000 81 sales
How to read this

The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 2.8 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 The Nobel School by bus

Best-served stop: Hudson Road, 0.2 mi away, with 9.1 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 05:43, last 23:27.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
Nobel School69 yd3.82.21.9SB1
Wheatlands0.2 mi3.82.02.0SB1
The Glebe Centre0.2 mi5.31.82.0SB1, SB12

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 The Nobel School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around SG2: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at SG2 0HS, 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 The Nobel School?

The Nobel 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 2.8 miles away, per Hertfordshire.

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

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 2.8 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 The Nobel 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 The Nobel 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

The Nobel 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.