Hob Hill CE/Methodist (VC) Primary School
Voluntary controlled school in Rugeley, WS15 1ED, taking ages 3 to 11, 215 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 4.58 miles Staffordshire published for latest published year, as the checker measures.
Opened on this device and kept on it only: just their postcodes are sent, to this site, to measure them.
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Will an address get in?
In the latest published round, the furthest child offered a place lived 4.58 miles away.
Applying for September 2027? Primary applications close 15 January 2027; offers on 16 April 2027.
How this compares: every Staffordshire school's distance, tightest first →
The circle is 4.58 miles, the distance the school admitted from in the latest published year.
Hob Hill CE/Methodist (VC) Primary School: 4.58 miles Gentleshaw Primary Academy: 1.69 miles, published by Staffordshire
How to read this
Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When Hob Hill CE/Methodist (VC) 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: Staffordshire, published admission distances
Where Hob Hill CE/Methodist (VC) Primary School and Gentleshaw Primary Academy are both in reach
Both distances are drawn on the map above. Gentleshaw Primary Academy admitted from 1.69 miles in the latest published year, published by Staffordshire. Its own page has the rest of its figures.
No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 4.58 and 1.69 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 Gentleshaw Primary Academy and go back to one school.
If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Staffordshire, 61 of 289 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (21.1%; 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 Hob Hill CE/Methodist (VC) Primary School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Redbrook Hayes Community Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 12.93 mi | 0.6 mi |
| Rugeley John Taylor Both in reach | Secondary | 2.03 mi | 0.8 mi |
| Chase View Community Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 3.76 mi | 1.0 mi |
| Chancel Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.61 mi | 1.7 mi |
| Hayes Meadow Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 2.17 mi | 2.2 mi |
| Gentleshaw Primary Academy Both in reach | Primary | 1.69 mi | 2.6 mi |
The distance as a picture
What kind of school this is
| Religious character | Church of England/Methodist |
| Sixth form | Does not have a sixth form |
| How full | 215 pupils in 315 places (68% full) |
| Local authority | Staffordshire |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Ofsted | Good, inspected 28 February 2024 |
| Meeting the expected standard | 63.0% in reading, writing and maths (2024/25) |
| Year | Meeting the expected standard |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 63.0% |
| 2023/24 | 59.0% |
| 2022/23 | 68.0% |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to Hob Hill CE/Methodist (VC) Primary School
| Girls and boys | 58.6% girls, 41.4% boys |
| English as an additional language | 1.9% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 13.5% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
What it costs to live within reach of Hob Hill CE/Methodist (VC) Primary School
Cheapest district inside the 4.58 miles: WS15, median £220,000. Dearest: WS7, £233,000.
| District | Area | From the school | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|
| WS15 | Lichfield | 1.1 mi | £220,000 94 sales |
| WS12 | Cannock Chase | 4.4 mi | £220,000 114 sales |
| WS7 | Lichfield | 4.4 mi | £233,000 133 sales |
How to read this
The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 4.58 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 Hob Hill CE/Methodist (VC) Primary School by bus
Best-served stop: Coalpit Lane, 0.2 mi away, with 2.9 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 06:37, last 21:47.
Every stop within 600 m
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lea Hall Lane | 0.2 mi | 0.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 63 |
| Lea Hall Lane | 0.2 mi | 0.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 63 |
| Hillside Close | 0.2 mi | 0.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 63 |
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 Hob Hill CE/Methodist (VC) Primary School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around WS15: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at WS15 1ED, 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 Hob Hill CE/Methodist (VC) Primary School?
Hob Hill CE/Methodist (VC) 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 4.58 miles away, per Staffordshire.
How close do I need to live to get a place at Hob Hill CE/Methodist (VC) Primary School?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 4.58 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 Hob Hill CE/Methodist (VC) 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 Staffordshire school's distance
All Staffordshire schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →
Put Hob Hill CE/Methodist (VC) Primary School's figure on your own site
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Admission distance published by Staffordshire. 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.