Watling Academy
Free schools in Milton Keynes, MK8 1EP, taking ages 11 to 18, 1,767 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 1.99 miles Milton Keynes published for 2025/26, 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 2025/26, the furthest child offered a place lived 1.99 miles away.
Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close 31 October 2026; offers on 1 March 2027.
How this compares: every Milton Keynes school's distance, tightest first →
The circle is 1.99 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2025/26.
Watling Academy: 1.99 miles, 2025/26 Loughton Manor First School: 1.25 miles, 2025/26, published by Milton Keynes
How to read this
Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When Watling 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 both circles; 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: 2025/26, from Milton Keynes. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.
Source: Milton Keynes, published admission distances, 2025/26
Where Watling Academy and Loughton Manor First School are both in reach
Both distances are drawn on the map above. Loughton Manor First School admitted from 1.25 miles in 2025/26, published by Milton Keynes. Its own page has the rest of its figures.
The postcode districts whose centre falls inside both published distances, cheapest first by the median of real sales around each district's centre. The cheapest is MK8 at £429,995; the dearest shown, MK5, £442,500. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list.
| District | Area | From Watling Academy | From Loughton Manor First School | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MK8 | Milton Keynes | 0.7 mi | 0.8 mi | £429,995 178 sales |
| MK5 | Milton Keynes | 1.9 mi | 0.8 mi | £442,500 54 sales |
Sold prices from HM Land Registry, via each district's area guide. Distances measured from each district's centre to each school's point on the Department for Education register.
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Drop Loughton Manor First School and go back to one school.
If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Milton Keynes, 38 of 224 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (17.0%; 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 Watling Academy that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whitehouse Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.49 mi 2025/26 | 0.3 mi |
| The Hazeley Academy Both in reach | Secondary | 2.44 mi 2025/26 | 1.1 mi |
| Denbigh School Both in reach | Secondary | 2.7 mi 2025/26 | 1.5 mi |
| Loughton Manor First School Both in reach | Primary | 1.25 mi 2025/26 | 1.5 mi |
| The Radcliffe School Both in reach | Secondary | 1.35 mi 2025/26 | 1.8 mi |
| Heelands School Both in reach | Primary | 1.05 mi 2025/26 | 2.2 mi |
The distance as a picture
What kind of school this is
| Admissions | Non-selective |
| Religious character | No religious character |
| Sixth form | Has a sixth form |
| How full | 1,767 pupils in 2,250 places (79% full) |
| Trust | THE ALLIANCE SCHOOLS TRUST |
| Local authority | Milton Keynes |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Ofsted | Outstanding, inspected 02 July 2023 |
| Attainment 8 | 50.4 (2024/25) |
| Year | Progress 8 |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | not published |
| 2023/24 | not published |
| 2022/23 | not published |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to Watling Academy
| Girls and boys | 48.9% girls, 51.1% boys |
| English as an additional language | 27.1% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 22.9% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
What it costs to live within reach of Watling Academy
Cheapest district inside the 1.99 miles: MK12, median £310,000. Dearest: MK77, £540,000.
| District | Area | From the school | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|
| MK12 | Milton Keynes | 1.7 mi | £310,000 142 sales |
| MK11 | Milton Keynes | 1.4 mi | £325,000 147 sales |
| MK8 | Milton Keynes | 0.7 mi | £429,995 178 sales |
| MK5 | Milton Keynes | 1.9 mi | £442,500 54 sales |
| MK77 | Milton Keynes | 0.6 mi | £540,000 66 sales |
How to read this
The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 1.99 miles the school admitted from in 2025/26, 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 Watling Academy by bus
Best-served stop: Brahaman Way, 0.3 mi away, with 2.0 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 06:26, last 21:06.
Every stop within 600 m
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brahaman Way | 0.3 mi | 2.0 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 2, 2A |
| Whitehouse Primary School | 0.3 mi | 2.0 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 2, 2A |
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 Watling Academy against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around MK8: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at MK8 1EP, 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 Watling Academy?
Watling 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 1.99 miles away, per Milton Keynes.
How close do I need to live to get a place at Watling Academy?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 1.99 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 Watling 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 Milton Keynes school's distance
All Milton Keynes schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →
Put Watling Academy's figure on your own site
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Admission distance published by Milton Keynes. 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.