West Hill School
Academy converter in Stalybridge, SK15 1LX, taking ages 11 to 16, boys, 852 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 1.39 miles Tameside 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 1.39 miles away.
Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close 31 October 2026; offers on 1 March 2027.
How this compares: every Tameside school's distance, tightest first →
The circle is 1.39 miles, the distance the school admitted from in the latest published year.
West Hill School: 1.39 miles St Damian's RC Science College: 4.22 miles, published by Tameside
How to read this
Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When West Hill 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: Tameside, published admission distances
Where West Hill School and St Damian's RC Science College are both in reach
Both distances are drawn on the map above. St Damian's RC Science College admitted from 4.22 miles in the latest published year, published by Tameside. 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 OL6 at £150,000; the dearest shown, SK16, £205,000. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list.
| District | Area | From West Hill School | From St Damian's RC Science College | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OL6 | Tameside | 1.0 mi | 1.1 mi | £150,000 97 sales |
| SK15 | Tameside | 0.8 mi | 2.0 mi | £160,000 149 sales |
| SK16 | Tameside | 1.1 mi | 2.4 mi | £205,000 102 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 Damian's RC Science College and go back to one school.
If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Tameside, 29 of 206 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (14.1%; 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 West Hill School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tame Bank Both in reach | Other | 0.55 mi | 0.4 mi |
| St Paul's CofE Primary School, Stalybridge Both in reach | Primary | 1.59 mi | 0.8 mi |
| Our Lady of Mount Carmel RC Primary School, Ashton-under-Lyne Both in reach | Primary | 0.47 mi | 0.9 mi |
| St James' Church of England Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.85 mi | 1.0 mi |
| Oakfield Primary and Moderate Learning Difficulties Resource Provision Both in reach | Primary | 0.9 mi | 1.6 mi |
| St Damian's RC Science College Both in reach | Secondary | 4.22 mi | 1.6 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 | 852 pupils in 850 places (100% full) |
| Trust | WEST HILL SCHOOL |
| Local authority | Tameside |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Ofsted | Report card, April 2026: 3 at the expected standard, 3 needing attention or urgent improvement |
| Report card |
|
| Attainment 8 | 43.5 (2024/25) |
| Year | Progress 8 |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | not published |
| 2023/24 | -0.31 |
| 2022/23 | -0.33 |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to West Hill School
| Girls and boys | 0.0% girls, 100.0% boys |
| English as an additional language | 5.3% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 30.5% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
Where West Hill School's Year 11 went next
| Stayed for the sixth form | 1.9% |
| Sixth-form college | 47.2% |
| Further education college | 39.8% |
| Apprenticeship | 2.5% |
| Employment | 0.6% |
| No sustained destination recorded | 6.2% |
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 West Hill School
Cheapest district inside the 1.39 miles: OL6, median £150,000. Dearest: SK16, £205,000.
| District | Area | From the school | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|
| OL6 | Tameside | 1.0 mi | £150,000 97 sales |
| SK15 | Tameside | 0.8 mi | £160,000 149 sales |
| SK16 | Tameside | 1.1 mi | £205,000 102 sales |
How to read this
The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 1.39 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 West Hill School by bus
Best-served stop: Stamford Drive, 0.1 mi away, with 10.9 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 05:23, last 00:40 after midnight.
Every stop within 600 m
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ridge Hill Lane | 120 yd | 4.2 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 356, 388, 389, 387, 870, 820 |
| Stamford Drive | 144 yd | 6.9 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 348, 237, 356, 216, 820, 870 |
| Stamford Drive | 0.1 mi | 10.9 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 237, 348, 356, 388, 389, 387 |
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 West Hill School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around SK15: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at SK15 1LX, 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 West Hill School?
West Hill 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 1.39 miles away, per Tameside.
How close do I need to live to get a place at West Hill School?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 1.39 miles was enough in the latest published year, and at 100% 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 West Hill 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 Tameside school's distance
All Tameside schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →
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Admission distance published by Tameside. 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.