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Bushey Meads School

Academy converter in Bushey, WD23 4PA, taking ages 11 to 18, 1,200 on roll.

No current grade Ofsted
3.95 mi Admitted from, latest published year
92% Full
43.6 Attainment 8, 2024/25

Will an address get in?

In the latest published round, the furthest child offered a place lived 3.95 miles away.

Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close 31 October 2026; offers on 1 March 2027.

The circle is 3.95 miles, the distance the school admitted from in the latest published year.

Bushey Meads School: 3.95 miles Bushey Heath Primary School: 0.49 miles, published by Hertfordshire

This is not a catchment area. 3.95 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 Bushey Meads 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: Hertfordshire, published admission distances

Where Bushey Meads School and Bushey Heath Primary School are both in reach

Both distances are drawn on the map above. Bushey Heath Primary School admitted from 0.49 miles in the latest published year, published by Hertfordshire. Its own page has the rest of its figures.

No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 3.95 and 0.49 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 Bushey Heath Primary School and go back to one school.

If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Hertfordshire, 109 of 519 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (21.0%; 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 Bushey Meads School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
Little Reddings Primary School Both in reach Primary 5.73 mi 0.3 mi
Bournehall Primary School Both in reach Primary 2.3 mi 0.6 mi
Ashfield Junior School Both in reach Primary 0.07 mi 0.7 mi
Merry Hill Infant School and Nursery Both in reach Primary 4.14 mi 0.8 mi
Bushey Heath Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.49 mi 0.9 mi
Bushey and Oxhey Infant School Both in reach Primary 1.37 mi 1.3 mi

The distance as a picture

Bushey Meads School catchment area map: the 3.95 mile admission distance and the postcode districts inside it
Drawn to scale from the published figure, with the districts whose centre falls inside. Save the picture, or share this page and this is the card that appears.

What kind of school this is

AdmissionsNon-selective
Religious characterNo religious character
Sixth formHas a sixth form
How full 1,200 pupils in 1,300 places (92% full)
TrustBUSHEY ST JAMES TRUST
Local authorityHertfordshire

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Attainment 8 43.6 (2024/25)
YearProgress 8
2024/25 not published
2023/24 -0.45
2022/23 -0.02

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

Who goes to Bushey Meads School

Girls and boys44.3% girls, 55.7% boys
English as an additional language18.9% of pupils
Free school meals20.5% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

Where Bushey Meads School's Year 11 went next

Stayed for the sixth form54.5%
Sixth-form college13.9%
Further education college24.6%
Apprenticeship0.5%
Employment0.0%
No sustained destination recorded1.1%

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 Bushey Meads School

Cheapest district inside the 3.95 miles: WD99, median £320,000. Dearest: WD7, £1,000,000.

DistrictAreaFrom the schoolMedian sold price
WD99 Watford 3.1 mi £320,000 59 sales
WD18 Watford 2.8 mi £342,000 103 sales
WD17 Watford 2.6 mi £355,000 99 sales
WD19 Three Rivers 2.2 mi £390,000 89 sales
WD24 Watford 2.7 mi £395,000 118 sales
WD25 Watford 3.1 mi £425,000 99 sales
WD23 Hertsmere 0.5 mi £440,000 87 sales
WD6 Hertsmere 3.2 mi £450,000 46 sales
WD7 Hertsmere 3.2 mi £1,000,000 75 sales
How to read this

The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 3.95 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 Bushey Meads School by bus

Best-served stop: Mostyn Road, 0.2 mi away, with 1.1 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 06:04, last 21:24.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
Meads School137 yd0.10.00.0885
Mostyn Road0.2 mi1.10.51.0306, 306A
Mostyn Road0.2 mi1.10.81.1306, 306A

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 Bushey Meads School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around WD23: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at WD23 4PA, 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 Bushey Meads School?

Bushey Meads 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 3.95 miles away, per Hertfordshire.

How close do I need to live to get a place at Bushey Meads School?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 3.95 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 Bushey Meads 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 Hertfordshire school's distance

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

Put Bushey Meads School's figure on your own site

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Admission distance published by Hertfordshire. 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.