Waterside Academy
Academy converter in Welwyn Garden City, AL7 1NZ, taking ages 3 to 11, 166 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 0.48 miles Hertfordshire published for latest published year, as the checker measures.
Opened on this device and kept on it only: just their postcodes are sent, to this site, to measure them.
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Will an address get in?
In the latest published round, the furthest child offered a place lived 0.48 miles away.
Applying for September 2027? Primary applications close 15 January 2027; offers on 16 April 2027.
How this compares: every Hertfordshire school's distance, tightest first →
The circle is 0.48 miles, the distance the school admitted from in the latest published year.
Waterside Academy: 0.48 miles Swallow Dell Primary and Nursery School: 2.28 miles, published by Hertfordshire
How to read this
Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When Waterside 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.
Source: Hertfordshire, published admission distances
Where Waterside Academy and Swallow Dell Primary and Nursery School are both in reach
Both distances are drawn on the map above. Swallow Dell Primary and Nursery School admitted from 2.28 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 0.48 and 2.28 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 Swallow Dell Primary and Nursery 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 Waterside Academy that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Panshanger Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.21 mi | 0.7 mi |
| Ridgeway Academy Both in reach | Secondary | 7.11 mi | 0.7 mi |
| Harwood Hill Junior Mixed Infant and Nursery School Both in reach | Primary | 0.37 mi | 0.8 mi |
| Springmead Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 4.11 mi | 0.8 mi |
| Homerswood Primary and Nursery School Both in reach | Primary | 1.61 mi | 1.0 mi |
| Swallow Dell Primary and Nursery School Both in reach | Primary | 2.28 mi | 1.2 mi |
The distance as a picture
What kind of school this is
| Religious character | No religious character |
| Sixth form | Does not have a sixth form |
| How full | 166 pupils in 210 places (79% full) |
| Trust | AGORA LEARNING PARTNERSHIP |
| Local authority | Hertfordshire |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Ofsted | Report card, February 2026: 1 area strong or exceptional, 6 at the expected standard |
| Report card |
|
| Meeting the expected standard | 64.0% in reading, writing and maths (2024/25) |
| Year | Meeting the expected standard |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 64.0% |
| 2023/24 | 70.0% |
| 2022/23 | 71.0% |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to Waterside Academy
| Girls and boys | 50.6% girls, 49.4% boys |
| English as an additional language | 22.9% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 41.6% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
Getting to Waterside Academy by bus
Best-served stop: Waterside, 0.3 mi away, with 3.6 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 06:19, last 19:55.
Every stop within 600 m
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robin Mead | 0.1 mi | 1.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 323 |
| Lumbards | 0.2 mi | 1.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 323 |
| Flexley Wood | 0.3 mi | 1.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 323 |
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 Waterside Academy against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around AL7: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at AL7 1NZ, 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 Waterside Academy?
Waterside 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 the latest published year lived 0.48 miles away, per Hertfordshire.
How close do I need to live to get a place at Waterside Academy?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 0.48 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 Waterside 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 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 Waterside Academy'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.