← School guide Admissions

Willow Primary Academy

Academy sponsor led in Gloucester, GL4 0JY, taking ages 4 to 11, 211 on roll.

Good Ofsted, Mar 2024
1.9 mi Admitted from, 2024/25
88% Full
18.0% Met the expected standard, 2024/25

Will an address get in?

In 2024/25, the furthest child offered a place lived 1.9 miles away.

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

The circle is 1.9 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2024/25.

This is not a catchment area. 1.9 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 Willow Primary 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 labels on the map are postcode districts whose centre falls inside it; each opens the district's guide.

The address on the closing date is the one the council uses. How admissions work.

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

Source: Gloucestershire, published admission distances, 2024/25

Two schools, both in reach

Two children, or a first and second preference? Add a second school to see where both are in reach, cheapest districts first. Only a school with a published distance can be added.

If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Gloucestershire, 140 of 543 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (25.8%; 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 Willow Primary Academy that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
St Peter's Catholic High School and Sixth Form Centre Secondary No limit 2024/25 0.2 mi
Holmleigh Park High School Both in reach Secondary 2.02 mi 2024/25 0.6 mi
Grange Primary Academy Primary No limit 2024/25 0.7 mi
The Crypt School Secondary No limit 2024/25 0.9 mi
Ribston Hall High School Secondary No limit 2024/25 1.4 mi
Field Court Junior School Both in reach Primary 1.65 mi 2024/25 1.5 mi

The distance as a picture

Willow Primary Academy catchment area map: the 1.9 mile admission distance, 2024/25 and the postcode districts inside it
Drawn to scale from the published figure, with the districts whose centre falls inside. 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 211 pupils in 240 places (88% full)
TrustSAND ACADEMIES TRUST
Local authorityGloucestershire

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Good, inspected 10 March 2024
Meeting the expected standard 18.0% in reading, writing and maths (2024/25)
YearMeeting the expected standard
2024/25 18.0%
2023/24 34.0%
2022/23 37.0%

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

Who goes to Willow Primary Academy

Girls and boys46.9% girls, 53.1% boys
English as an additional language12.3% of pupils
Free school meals49.8% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

What it costs to live within reach of Willow Primary Academy

Cheapest district inside the 1.9 miles: GL4, median £220,000. Dearest: GL2, £265,000.

DistrictAreaFrom the schoolMedian sold price
GL4 Gloucester 1.6 mi £220,000 67 sales
GL2 Gloucester 1.5 mi £265,000 113 sales
How to read this

The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 1.9 miles the school admitted from in 2024/25, cheapest first, by the median of real sales around each district's centre. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list. Districts without enough recorded sales to rank are not shown.

How this compares across England: what a tight gate costs, school by school.

Source: HM Land Registry sold prices, via each district's area guide

Getting to Willow Primary Academy by bus

Best-served stop: Goddard Way, 0.2 mi away, with 2.8 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 05:42, last 23:05.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
Gurney Avenue173 yd2.81.01.99
St Peter's Rc High School0.1 mi1.90.21.063, 62, Glos Route 1
St Peter's Rc High School0.1 mi1.90.21.063, 62

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 Willow Primary Academy against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around GL4: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at GL4 0JY, 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 Willow Primary Academy?

Willow Primary 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 2024/25 lived 1.9 miles away, per Gloucestershire.

How close do I need to live to get a place at Willow Primary Academy?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 1.9 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 Willow Primary 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 Gloucestershire school's distance

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

Put Willow Primary Academy'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

Willow Primary Academy badge

Admission distance published by Gloucestershire. 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.