Downlands Community School
Community school in Hassocks, BN6 8LP, taking ages 11 to 16, 1,250 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 8.22 miles West Sussex published for 2025/26, 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 2025/26, the furthest child offered a place lived 8.22 miles away.
Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close 31 October 2026; offers on 1 March 2027.
How this compares: every West Sussex school's distance, tightest first →
The circle is 8.22 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2025/26.
How to read this
Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When Downlands Community 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 it; each opens the district's guide.
The address on the closing date is the one the council uses. How admissions work.
One published year so far: 2025/26, from West Sussex. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.
Source: West Sussex, published admission distances, 2025/26
Two schools, both in reach
Two children, or a first and second preference? Add a second school to see where both are in reach, cheapest districts first. Only a school with a published distance can be added.
If the answer is no, you can appeal. In West Sussex, 60 of 353 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (17.0%; 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 Downlands Community School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birchwood Grove Community Primary School, Burgess Hill Both in reach | Primary | 0.59 mi 2025/26 | 2.2 mi |
| St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.11 mi 2025/26 | 2.3 mi |
| The Gattons Infant School Both in reach | Primary | 1.91 mi 2025/26 | 2.6 mi |
| Albourne Church of England Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 1.09 mi 2025/26 | 3.0 mi |
| Wivelsfield Primary School and Nursery Both in reach | Primary | 2.12 mi | 4.0 mi |
The distance as a picture
What kind of school this is
| Admissions | Non-selective |
| Religious character | No religious character |
| Sixth form | Does not have a sixth form |
| How full | 1,250 pupils in 1,200 places (104% full, over capacity) |
| Local authority | West Sussex |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Ofsted | Good, inspected 23 November 2022 |
| Attainment 8 | 57.3 (2024/25) |
| Year | Progress 8 |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | not published |
| 2023/24 | +0.53 |
| 2022/23 | +0.51 |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to Downlands Community School
| Girls and boys | 48.5% girls, 51.5% boys |
| English as an additional language | 4.0% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 8.2% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
Where Downlands Community School's Year 11 went next
| Stayed for the sixth form | 7.3% |
| Sixth-form college | 59.0% |
| Further education college | 25.6% |
| Apprenticeship | 0.9% |
| Employment | 2.6% |
| No sustained destination recorded | 1.7% |
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 Downlands Community School
Cheapest district inside the 8.22 miles: RH16, median £257,500. Dearest: BN1, £617,000.
| District | Area | From the school | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|
| RH16 | Mid Sussex | 5.8 mi | £257,500 119 sales |
| RH15 | Mid Sussex | 2.6 mi | £308,222 106 sales |
| BN50 | Brighton and Hove | 6.6 mi | £360,000 5 sales |
| BN52 | Brighton and Hove | 6.1 mi | £375,000 74 sales |
| BN41 | Brighton and Hove | 6.5 mi | £398,500 135 sales |
| BN3 | Brighton and Hove | 6.2 mi | £445,000 183 sales |
| BN88 | Brighton and Hove | 6.5 mi | £506,000 38 sales |
| BN5 | Horsham | 5.7 mi | £525,000 81 sales |
| BN6 | Mid Sussex | 1.0 mi | £575,000 95 sales |
| BN7 | Lewes | 6.7 mi | £575,000 79 sales |
| BN1 | Brighton and Hove | 5.4 mi | £617,000 237 sales |
How to read this
The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 8.22 miles the school admitted from in 2025/26, 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 Downlands Community School by bus
Best-served stop: Post Office, 0.2 mi away, with 1.2 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 06:56, last 18:02.
Every stop within 600 m
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orion Parade | 0.2 mi | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 167, 168 |
| Orion Parade | 0.2 mi | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 167, 33 |
| Post Office | 0.2 mi | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 33, 168, 331 |
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 Downlands Community School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around BN6: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at BN6 8LP, 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 Downlands Community School?
Downlands Community 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 2025/26 lived 8.22 miles away, per West Sussex.
How close do I need to live to get a place at Downlands Community School?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 8.22 miles was enough in 2025/26, and at 104% full the school has little slack. 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 Downlands Community 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 West Sussex school's distance
All West Sussex schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →
Put Downlands Community School's figure on your own site
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Admission distance published by West Sussex. 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.