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Buntingford First School

Free schools in Buntingford, SG9 9HZ, taking ages 2 to 9, 165 on roll.

Report card Ofsted, May 2026
8.61 mi Admitted from, latest published year
50% Full

Will an address get in?

In the latest published round, the furthest child offered a place lived 8.61 miles away.

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

The circle is 8.61 miles, the distance the school admitted from in the latest published year.

Buntingford First School: 8.61 miles Millfield First and Nursery School: 2.73 miles, published by Hertfordshire

This is not a catchment area. 8.61 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 Buntingford First School 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.

Source: Hertfordshire, published admission distances

Where Buntingford First School and Millfield First and Nursery School are both in reach

Both distances are drawn on the map above. Millfield First and Nursery School admitted from 2.73 miles in the latest published year, published by Hertfordshire. 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 SG9 at £440,000. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list.

DistrictAreaFrom Buntingford First SchoolFrom Millfield First and Nursery SchoolMedian sold price
SG9 East Hertfordshire 1.0 mi 0.7 mi £440,000 63 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.

Sign up to save both schools and be told when either council republishes the distance these answers rest on.

Drop Millfield First 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 Buntingford First School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
Millfield First and Nursery School Both in reach Primary 2.73 mi 0.7 mi
Layston Church of England First School Primary No limit 0.9 mi
Edwinstree Church of England Middle School Both in reach Secondary 1.6 mi 1.1 mi
Anstey First School Both in reach Primary 1.25 mi 3.5 mi

The distance as a picture

Buntingford First School catchment area map: the 8.61 mile admission distance 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

AdmissionsNon-selective
Religious characterNo religious character
Sixth formDoes not have a sixth form
How full 165 pupils in 330 places (50% full)
TrustSCHOLARS' EDUCATION TRUST
Local authorityHertfordshire

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Report card, May 2026: 4 areas strong or exceptional, 3 at the expected standard
Report card
  • Safeguarding Met
  • Inclusion Strong standard
  • Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
  • Achievement Expected standard
  • Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
  • Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard
  • Early years Strong standard
  • Post-16 provision Not applicable
  • Leadership and governance Strong standard
Ofsted stopped giving schools a single overall grade in 2024; from November 2025 each area is judged on this five-point scale.

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

Who goes to Buntingford First School

Girls and boys49.1% girls, 50.9% boys
English as an additional language3.0% of pupils
Free school meals18.8% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

What it costs to live within reach of Buntingford First School

Cheapest district inside the 8.61 miles: SG2, median £346,000. Dearest: SG10, £675,000.

DistrictAreaFrom the schoolMedian sold price
SG2 Stevenage 7.1 mi £346,000 133 sales
SG1 Stevenage 8.1 mi £365,000 81 sales
CM23 East Hertfordshire 8.4 mi £380,000 78 sales
SG9 East Hertfordshire 1.0 mi £440,000 63 sales
SG12 East Hertfordshire 8.4 mi £480,000 126 sales
SG11 East Hertfordshire 3.9 mi £540,000 25 sales
SG10 East Hertfordshire 7.2 mi £675,000 30 sales
How to read this

The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 8.61 miles the school admitted from in the latest published year, 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 Buntingford First School by bus

Best-served stop: Kingfisher Park, 0.2 mi away, with 1.5 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 06:30, last 19:41.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
Stearn Way0.1 mi0.40.20.0331, 831
Stearn Way0.1 mi0.60.00.1331, 831
Kingfisher Park0.2 mi0.80.50.036, 331

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 Buntingford First School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around SG9: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at SG9 9HZ, 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 Buntingford First School?

Buntingford First School 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 8.61 miles away, per Hertfordshire.

How close do I need to live to get a place at Buntingford First School?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 8.61 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 Buntingford First School 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 Buntingford First School'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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Buntingford First School badge

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.