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Galton Valley Primary School

Community school in Smethwick, B66 1BA, taking ages 3 to 11, 456 on roll.

Good Ofsted, Jul 2025
0.43 mi Admitted from, latest published year
109% Full, over capacity
71.0% Met the expected standard, 2024/25

Will an address get in?

In the latest published round, the furthest child offered a place lived 0.43 miles away.

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

The circle is 0.43 miles, the distance the school admitted from in the latest published year.

Galton Valley Primary School: 0.43 miles Crocketts Community Primary School: 0.28 miles, published by Sandwell

This is not a catchment area. 0.43 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 Galton Valley 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 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 address on the closing date is the one the council uses. How admissions work.

Source: Sandwell, published admission distances

Where Galton Valley Primary School and Crocketts Community Primary School are both in reach

Both distances are drawn on the map above. Crocketts Community Primary School admitted from 0.28 miles in the latest published year, published by Sandwell. Its own page has the rest of its figures.

No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 0.43 and 0.28 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 Crocketts Community Primary School and go back to one school.

If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Sandwell, 32 of 354 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (9.0%; 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 Galton Valley Primary School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
Crocketts Community Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.28 mi 0.6 mi
Holy Trinity CofE Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.49 mi 1.1 mi
Shireland Technology Primary Both in reach Primary 0.55 mi 1.2 mi
Windsor Olympus Academy Both in reach Secondary 1.93 mi 1.2 mi
Annie Lennard Primary School Both in reach Primary 1.29 mi 1.5 mi
Bristnall Hall Academy Both in reach Secondary 0.82 mi 1.5 mi

The distance as a picture

Galton Valley Primary School catchment area map: the 0.43 mile admission distance
Drawn to scale from the published figure. Save the picture, or share this page and this is the card that appears.

What kind of school this is

Religious characterNo religious character
Sixth formDoes not have a sixth form
How full 456 pupils in 420 places (109% full, over capacity)
Local authoritySandwell

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Good, inspected 15 July 2025. Ungraded inspection, July 2025: standards maintained
Meeting the expected standard 71.0% in reading, writing and maths (2024/25)
YearMeeting the expected standard
2024/25 71.0%
2023/24 71.0%
2022/23 77.0%

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

Who goes to Galton Valley Primary School

Girls and boys47.4% girls, 52.6% boys
English as an additional language85.3% of pupils
Free school meals44.5% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

Getting to Galton Valley Primary School by bus

Best-served stop: Lewisham Road, 0.1 mi away, with 1.9 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 06:29, last 23:53.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
Community Centre28 yd1.81.01.089
Community Centre77 yd1.81.21.189
Lewisham Road0.1 mi1.91.21.189

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 Galton Valley Primary School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around B66: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at B66 1BA, 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 Galton Valley Primary School?

Galton Valley 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 0.43 miles away, per Sandwell.

How close do I need to live to get a place at Galton Valley Primary School?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 0.43 miles was enough in the latest published year, and at 109% 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 Galton Valley Primary 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 Sandwell school's distance

All Sandwell schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →

Put Galton Valley 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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Galton Valley Primary School badge

Admission distance published by Sandwell. 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.