← School guide Admissions

Rutherford House School

Free schools in London, SW17 7BS, taking ages 4 to 11, 376 on roll.

Good Ofsted, Sep 2022
0.37 mi Admitted from, 2024/25
90% Full
73.0% Met the expected standard, 2024/25

Will an address get in?

In 2024/25, the furthest child offered a place lived 0.37 miles away.

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

The circle is 0.37 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2024/25.

Rutherford House School: 0.37 miles, 2024/25 Holy Ghost Catholic Primary School: 1.03 miles, 2024/25, published by Wandsworth

This is not a catchment area. 0.37 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 Rutherford House 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.

One published year so far: 2024/25, from Wandsworth. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.

Source: Wandsworth, published admission distances, 2024/25

Where Rutherford House School and Holy Ghost Catholic Primary School are both in reach

Both distances are drawn on the map above. Holy Ghost Catholic Primary School admitted from 1.03 miles in 2024/25, published by Wandsworth. Its own page has the rest of its figures.

No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 0.37 and 1.03 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 Holy Ghost Catholic Primary School and go back to one school.

If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Wandsworth, 5 of 70 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (7.1%; 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 Rutherford House School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
Ravenstone Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.63 mi 2024/25 0.2 mi
Fircroft Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.38 mi 2024/25 0.4 mi
Holy Ghost Catholic Primary School Both in reach Primary 1.03 mi 2024/25 0.6 mi
St Boniface RC Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.3 mi 2024/25 0.9 mi
Honeywell Infant School Both in reach Primary 0.48 mi 2024/25 1.1 mi
Beatrix Potter Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.49 mi 2024/25 1.2 mi

The distance as a picture

Rutherford House School catchment area map: the 0.37 mile admission distance, 2024/25
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
How full 376 pupils in 420 places (90% full)
TrustBELLEVUE PLACE EDUCATION TRUST
Local authorityWandsworth

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Good, inspected 27 September 2022
Meeting the expected standard 73.0% in reading, writing and maths (2024/25)
YearMeeting the expected standard
2024/25 73.0%
2023/24 89.0%
2022/23 80.0%

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

Who goes to Rutherford House School

Girls and boys48.7% girls, 51.3% boys
English as an additional language11.4% of pupils
Free school meals16.2% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

Getting to Rutherford House School by bus

Best-served stop: Upper Tooting Park / Balham High Road, 110 yd away, with 21.2 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 00:14, last 00:18.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
Upper Tooting Park / Balham High Road58 yd20.918.815.9155, 249, 355, 315
Upper Tooting Park / Balham High Road110 yd21.217.815.9155, 249, 355, 315
Du Cane Court0.1 mi21.218.015.9155, 249, 355, 315

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 Rutherford House School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around SW17: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at SW17 7BS, 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 Rutherford House School?

Rutherford House 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 2024/25 lived 0.37 miles away, per Wandsworth.

How close do I need to live to get a place at Rutherford House School?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 0.37 miles was enough in 2024/25. 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 Rutherford House 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 Wandsworth school's distance

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

Put Rutherford House 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.

Show the badge and its code

Rutherford House School badge

Admission distance published by Wandsworth. 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.