← School guide Admissions

The High School Leckhampton

Free schools in Cheltenham, GL51 3FS, taking ages 11 to 16, 759 on roll.

Outstanding Ofsted, Apr 2024
0.78 mi Admitted from, 2024/25
84% Full

Will an address get in?

In 2024/25, the furthest child offered a place lived 0.78 miles away.

Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close 31 October 2026; offers on 1 March 2027.

The circle is 0.78 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2024/25.

The High School Leckhampton: 0.78 miles, 2024/25 Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre: 1.94 miles, 2024/25, published by Gloucestershire

This is not a catchment area. 0.78 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 The High School Leckhampton 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: 2024/25, from Gloucestershire. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.

Source: Gloucestershire, published admission distances, 2024/25

Where The High School Leckhampton and Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre are both in reach

Both distances are drawn on the map above. Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre admitted from 1.94 miles in 2024/25, published by Gloucestershire. Its own page has the rest of its figures.

No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 0.78 and 1.94 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 Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre and go back to one school.

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 The High School Leckhampton that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
Warden Hill Primary School Primary No limit 2024/25 0.4 mi
Leckhampton Church of England Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.66 mi 2024/25 0.6 mi
St James' Church of England Primary School Both in reach Primary 4.61 mi 2024/25 0.6 mi
Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre Both in reach Secondary 1.94 mi 2024/25 0.7 mi
Benhall Infant School Both in reach Primary 0.69 mi 2024/25 1.5 mi
Shurdington Church of England Primary School Both in reach Primary 1.38 mi 2024/25 1.6 mi

The distance as a picture

The High School Leckhampton catchment area map: the 0.78 mile admission distance, 2024/25
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 759 pupils in 900 places (84% full)
TrustTHE BALCARRAS TRUST
Local authorityGloucestershire

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Outstanding, inspected 17 April 2024
YearProgress 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 The High School Leckhampton

Girls and boys48.6% girls, 51.4% boys
English as an additional language3.0% of pupils
Free school meals9.9% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

Getting to The High School Leckhampton by bus

Best-served stop: Woodlands Road, 0.3 mi away, with 7.8 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 05:56, last 23:42.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
Kidnappers' Lane0.2 mi5.12.03.010, 66, RC2
Farmfield Road0.2 mi5.02.03.010, 66
Woodlands Road0.2 mi5.12.03.010, 66, M5

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 The High School Leckhampton against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around GL51: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at GL51 3FS, 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 The High School Leckhampton?

The High School Leckhampton 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 0.78 miles away, per Gloucestershire.

How close do I need to live to get a place at The High School Leckhampton?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 0.78 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 The High School Leckhampton 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 The High School Leckhampton'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

The High School Leckhampton 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.