John Hampden Grammar School
Academy converter in High Wycombe, HP11 1SZ, taking ages 11 to 18, boys, 1,281 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 1.37 miles Buckinghamshire published for 2026/27, 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 2026/27, the furthest child offered a place lived 1.37 miles away.
Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close 31 October 2026; offers on 1 March 2027.
How this compares: every Buckinghamshire school's distance, tightest first →
The circle is 1.37 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2026/27.
John Hampden Grammar School: 1.37 miles, 2026/27 St Michael's Catholic School: 1.61 miles, 2026/27, published by Buckinghamshire
How to read this
Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When John Hampden Grammar 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.
One published year so far: 2026/27, from Buckinghamshire. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.
Source: Buckinghamshire, published admission distances, 2026/27
Where John Hampden Grammar School and St Michael's Catholic School are both in reach
Both distances are drawn on the map above. St Michael's Catholic School admitted from 1.61 miles in 2026/27, published by Buckinghamshire. 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 HP12 at £350,000; the dearest shown, HP11, £470,000. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list.
| District | Area | From John Hampden Grammar School | From St Michael's Catholic School | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HP12 | Buckinghamshire | 0.9 mi | 1.2 mi | £350,000 87 sales |
| HP11 | Buckinghamshire | 0.9 mi | 0.6 mi | £470,000 120 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 St Michael's Catholic School and go back to one school.
If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Buckinghamshire, 67 of 496 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (13.5%; 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 John Hampden Grammar School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wycombe High School Both in reach | Secondary | 11.25 mi 2026/27 | 0.2 mi |
| St Michael's Catholic School Both in reach | Secondary | 1.61 mi 2026/27 | 0.4 mi |
| Chepping View Primary Academy Both in reach | Primary | 0.07 mi 2026/27 | 0.5 mi |
| Cressex Community School Both in reach | Secondary | 0.3 mi 2026/27 | 0.9 mi |
| Marsh School Both in reach | Primary | 0.35 mi 2026/27 | 1.8 mi |
| The Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe Both in reach | Secondary | 0.09 mi 2026/27 | 2.0 mi |
The distance as a picture
What kind of school this is
| Admissions | Selective |
| Religious character | No religious character |
| Sixth form | Has a sixth form |
| How full | 1,281 pupils in 1,150 places (111% full, over capacity) |
| Trust | JOHN HAMPDEN GRAMMAR SCHOOL |
| Local authority | Buckinghamshire |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Ofsted | Outstanding, inspected 18 October 2022 |
| Attainment 8 | 72.3 (2024/25) |
| Year | Progress 8 |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | not published |
| 2023/24 | +0.84 |
| 2022/23 | +0.83 |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to John Hampden Grammar School
| Girls and boys | 0.0% girls, 100.0% boys |
| English as an additional language | 20.1% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 5.4% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
Where John Hampden Grammar School's Year 11 went next
| Stayed for the sixth form | 88.0% |
| Sixth-form college | 4.4% |
| Further education college | 3.8% |
| Apprenticeship | 0.0% |
| Employment | 0.0% |
| No sustained destination recorded | 0.0% |
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 John Hampden Grammar School
Cheapest district inside the 1.37 miles: HP12, median £350,000. Dearest: HP11, £470,000.
| District | Area | From the school | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|
| HP12 | Buckinghamshire | 0.9 mi | £350,000 87 sales |
| HP11 | Buckinghamshire | 0.9 mi | £470,000 120 sales |
How to read this
The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 1.37 miles the school admitted from in 2026/27, 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 John Hampden Grammar School by bus
Best-served stop: Rupert Avenue, 0.1 mi away, with 6.3 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 04:40, last 21:25.
Every stop within 600 m
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whincup Close | 117 yd | 3.1 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 34, 20, 331, 643 |
| Whincup Close | 127 yd | 3.0 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 34, 20, 331, 643 |
| Marlow Hill Schools | 162 yd | 3.1 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 34, 20, 331, 643 |
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 John Hampden Grammar School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around HP11: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at HP11 1SZ, 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 John Hampden Grammar School?
John Hampden Grammar 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 2026/27 lived 1.37 miles away, per Buckinghamshire.
How close do I need to live to get a place at John Hampden Grammar School?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 1.37 miles was enough in 2026/27, and at 111% 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 John Hampden Grammar School guarantee a place?
No. This is a selective school, so admission turns on the entrance assessment before distance is considered at all. The test's own free familiarisation papers are published by GL Assessment, CSSE (Essex and Southend) and Kent County Council; the school's admissions page says which test it uses and when to register. All grammar schools in England, by council. Councils also check that the address is genuinely where the child lives.
Every Buckinghamshire school's distance
All Buckinghamshire schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →
Put John Hampden Grammar School's figure on your own site
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Admission distance published by Buckinghamshire. 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.