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St Michael's Community Academy

Academy sponsor led in Crewe, CW1 3SL, taking ages 2 to 11, 412 on roll.

Requires improvement Ofsted, Jan 2024
0.6 mi Admitted from, 2025/26
85% Full
33.0% Met the expected standard, 2024/25

Will an address get in?

In 2025/26, the furthest child offered a place lived 0.6 miles away.

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

The circle is 0.6 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2025/26.

St Michael's Community Academy: 0.6 miles, 2025/26 Brierley Primary School: 1.75 miles, 2025/26, published by Cheshire East

This is not a catchment area. 0.6 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 St Michael's Community Academy 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: 2025/26, from Cheshire East. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.

Source: Cheshire East, published admission distances, 2025/26

Where St Michael's Community Academy and Brierley Primary School are both in reach

Both distances are drawn on the map above. Brierley Primary School admitted from 1.75 miles in 2025/26, published by Cheshire East. Its own page has the rest of its figures.

No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 0.6 and 1.75 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 Brierley Primary School and go back to one school.

If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Cheshire East, 14 of 39 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (35.9%; 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 St Michael's Community Academy that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
Beechwood Primary School and Nursery Both in reach Primary 1.2 mi 2025/26 0.5 mi
Underwood West Academy Both in reach Primary 0.87 mi 2025/26 0.5 mi
Mablins Lane Community Primary School Both in reach Primary 1.82 mi 2025/26 0.6 mi
Monks Coppenhall Academy Both in reach Primary 3.81 mi 2025/26 0.7 mi
Leighton Academy Both in reach Primary 1.85 mi 2025/26 0.8 mi
Brierley Primary School Both in reach Primary 1.75 mi 2025/26 0.9 mi

The distance as a picture

St Michael's Community Academy catchment area map: the 0.6 mile admission distance, 2025/26
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

AdmissionsNon-selective
Religious characterNo religious character
Sixth formDoes not have a sixth form
How full 412 pupils in 484 places (85% full)
TrustST BART'S MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
Local authorityCheshire East

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Requires improvement, inspected 18 January 2024
Meeting the expected standard 33.0% in reading, writing and maths (2024/25)
YearMeeting the expected standard
2024/25 33.0%
2023/24 54.0%
2022/23 50.0%

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

Who goes to St Michael's Community Academy

Girls and boys49.0% girls, 51.0% boys
English as an additional language26.7% of pupils
Free school meals43.2% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

Getting to St Michael's Community Academy by bus

Best-served stop: Cliffe Road, 0.2 mi away, with 2.8 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 06:18, last 20:36.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
Cliffe Road0.2 mi2.80.50.812A, 12
Cliffe Road0.2 mi2.70.50.812A, 12
Stores0.2 mi2.80.50.812A, 12

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 St Michael's Community Academy against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around CW1: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at CW1 3SL, 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 St Michael's Community Academy?

St Michael's Community 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 2025/26 lived 0.6 miles away, per Cheshire East.

How close do I need to live to get a place at St Michael's Community Academy?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 0.6 miles was enough in 2025/26. 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 St Michael's Community 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 Cheshire East school's distance

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

Put St Michael's Community Academy's figure on your own site

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Admission distance published by Cheshire East. 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.