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Manor Drive Secondary Academy

Free schools in Peterborough, PE4 7EP, taking ages 11 to 16, 594 on roll.

No current grade Ofsted
0.97 mi Admitted from, 2026/27
82% Full

Will an address get in?

In 2026/27, the furthest child offered a place lived 0.97 miles away.

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

The circle is 0.97 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2026/27.

Manor Drive Secondary Academy: 0.97 miles, 2026/27 St John Fisher Catholic High School: 0.83 miles, 2026/27, published by Peterborough

This is not a catchment area. 0.97 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 Manor Drive Secondary 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.

One published year so far: 2026/27, from Peterborough. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.

Source: Peterborough, published admission distances, 2026/27

Where Manor Drive Secondary Academy and St John Fisher Catholic High School are both in reach

Both distances are drawn on the map above. St John Fisher Catholic High School admitted from 0.83 miles in 2026/27, published by Peterborough. Its own page has the rest of its figures.

No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 0.97 and 0.83 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 St John Fisher Catholic High School and go back to one school.

If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Peterborough, 4 of 69 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (5.8%; 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 Manor Drive Secondary Academy that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
Fulbridge Academy Both in reach Primary 1.02 mi 2026/27 1.2 mi
All Saints' CofE (Aided) Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.87 mi 2026/27 1.3 mi
Newark Hill Academy Both in reach Primary 0.85 mi 2026/27 1.4 mi
St John Fisher Catholic High School Both in reach Secondary 0.83 mi 2026/27 1.9 mi
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.51 mi 2026/27 2.7 mi

The distance as a picture

Manor Drive Secondary Academy catchment area map: the 0.97 mile admission distance, 2026/27
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 594 pupils in 720 places (82% full)
TrustFOUR CS MAT
Local authorityPeterborough

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

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 Manor Drive Secondary Academy

Girls and boys47.8% girls, 52.2% boys
English as an additional language25.6% of pupils
Free school meals42.1% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

Getting to Manor Drive Secondary Academy by bus

Best-served stop: Whitwell, 0.3 mi away, with 2.8 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 04:55, last 23:30.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
Mariner Close0.2 mi2.00.20.05A
Whitwell0.3 mi2.81.52.02

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 Manor Drive Secondary Academy against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around PE4: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at PE4 7EP, 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 Manor Drive Secondary Academy?

Manor Drive Secondary 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 2026/27 lived 0.97 miles away, per Peterborough.

How close do I need to live to get a place at Manor Drive Secondary Academy?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 0.97 miles was enough in 2026/27. 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 Manor Drive Secondary 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 Peterborough school's distance

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

Put Manor Drive Secondary 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.

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Admission distance published by Peterborough. 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.