Priory Academy
Sign up to save this school and be told when Central Bedfordshire republishes its distance.
Academy converter in Dunstable, LU5 4JA, taking ages 9 to 16, 830 on roll.
Will an address get in?
In the 2026/27 round, the furthest-away child offered a place at Priory Academy lived 0.26099519057501835 miles away, according to Central Bedfordshire. Put a postcode in and it is measured against that distance.
Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close on 31 October 2026, with offers on 1 March 2027. The address on the deadline is the one the council uses. How it works.
The circle is 0.26099519057501835 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2026/27. Real admission areas are not circular: this is the distance, not a boundary.
What kind of school this is
| Religious character | No religious character |
| Sixth form | Does not have a sixth form |
| How full | 830 pupils in 700 places (119% full, over capacity) |
| Trust | SCHOLARS' EDUCATION TRUST |
| Local authority | Central Bedfordshire |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Attainment 8 | 46.2 (2024/25) |
| Meeting the expected standard | 65.0% in reading, writing and maths (2024/25) |
| Year | Progress 8 |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | not published |
| 2023/24 | -0.21 |
| 2022/23 | +0.23 |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to Priory Academy
| Girls and boys | 47.5% girls, 52.5% boys |
| English as an additional language | 16.1% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 14.9% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
Where Priory Academy's Year 11 went next
| Stayed for the sixth form | 44.8% |
| Sixth-form college | 3.1% |
| Further education college | 44.8% |
| Apprenticeship | 3.1% |
| Employment | 2.1% |
| No sustained destination recorded | 2.1% |
DfE destination measures, 2022/23. Broad categories only: the DfE does not publish which named schools or colleges pupils moved to.
The fee-paying alternative
Weighing Priory Academy against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around LU5: ages, selection, and how full each one is →
Checking the house as well as the school
The full report measures the distance from every nearby school to one address, alongside sold prices, flood risk, crime and the other checks on the same house.
Common questions
What is the catchment area for Priory Academy?
Priory Academy 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 0.26099519057501835 miles away, per Central Bedfordshire.
How close do I need to live to get a place at Priory Academy?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 0.26099519057501835 miles was enough in 2026/27, and at 119% 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 Priory Academy 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 Central Bedfordshire school's distance
All Central Bedfordshire schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →
Admission distance published by Central Bedfordshire. 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.