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Barnton Community Nursery and Primary School

Academy converter in Northwich, CW8 4QL, taking ages 2 to 11, 482 on roll.

Outstanding Ofsted, Nov 2023
1.25 mi Admitted from, 2025/26
95% Full
82.0% Met the expected standard, 2024/25

Will an address get in?

In 2025/26, the furthest child offered a place lived 1.25 miles away.

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

The circle is 1.25 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2025/26.

Barnton Community Nursery and Primary School: 1.25 miles, 2025/26 Whitley Village School: 3.21 miles, 2025/26, published by Cheshire West and Chester

This is not a catchment area. 1.25 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 Barnton Community Nursery and Primary 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: 2025/26, from Cheshire West and Chester. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.

Source: Cheshire West and Chester, published admission distances, 2025/26

Where Barnton Community Nursery and Primary School and Whitley Village School are both in reach

Both distances are drawn on the map above. Whitley Village School admitted from 3.21 miles in 2025/26, published by Cheshire West and Chester. Its own page has the rest of its figures.

No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 1.25 and 3.21 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 Whitley Village School and go back to one school.

If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Cheshire West and Chester, 22 of 70 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (31.4%; 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 Barnton Community Nursery and Primary School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
Whitley Village School Both in reach Primary 3.21 mi 2025/26 2.7 mi
The County High School, Leftwich Secondary No limit 2025/26 3.1 mi

The distance as a picture

Barnton Community Nursery and Primary School catchment area map: the 1.25 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

Religious characterNo religious character
Sixth formDoes not have a sixth form
How full 482 pupils in 505 places (95% full)
TrustWEAVER TRUST LIMITED
Local authorityCheshire West and Chester

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Outstanding, inspected 22 November 2023
Meeting the expected standard 82.0% in reading, writing and maths (2024/25)
YearMeeting the expected standard
2024/25 82.0%
2023/24 68.0%
2022/23 75.0%

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

Who goes to Barnton Community Nursery and Primary School

Girls and boys50.6% girls, 49.4% boys
English as an additional language3.5% of pupils
Free school meals16.0% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

Getting to Barnton Community Nursery and Primary School by bus

Best-served stop: School Drive, 0.2 mi away, with 1.8 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 06:49, last 19:21.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
Whitehall Close87 yd1.00.20.0N4
Beech Lane175 yd1.80.20.0N4, 9A
Beech Lane0.1 mi1.10.20.0N4

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 Barnton Community Nursery and Primary School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around CW8: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at CW8 4QL, 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 Barnton Community Nursery and Primary School?

Barnton Community Nursery and Primary 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 2025/26 lived 1.25 miles away, per Cheshire West and Chester.

How close do I need to live to get a place at Barnton Community Nursery and Primary School?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 1.25 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 Barnton Community Nursery and Primary 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 Cheshire West and Chester school's distance

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

Put Barnton Community Nursery and Primary 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.

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Barnton Community Nursery and Primary School badge

Admission distance published by Cheshire West and Chester. 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.