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St Thomas CofE Primary School

Academy converter in Oldham, OL8 1SE, taking ages 2 to 11, 491 on roll.

Good Ofsted, Jan 2020
3.69 mi Admitted from, 2025/26
94% Full
62.0% Met the expected standard, 2024/25

Will an address get in?

In 2025/26, the furthest child offered a place lived 3.69 miles away.

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

The circle is 3.69 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2025/26.

St Thomas CofE Primary School: 3.69 miles, 2025/26 Broadfield Primary School: 0.38 miles, 2025/26, published by Oldham

This is not a catchment area. 3.69 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 St Thomas CofE Primary 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 and faith criteria 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 Oldham. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.

Source: Oldham, published admission distances, 2025/26

Where St Thomas CofE Primary School and Broadfield Primary School are both in reach

Both distances are drawn on the map above. Broadfield Primary School admitted from 0.38 miles in 2025/26, published by Oldham. Its own page has the rest of its figures.

No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 3.69 and 0.38 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 Broadfield Primary School and go back to one school.

If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Oldham, 14 of 248 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (5.6%; 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 St Thomas CofE Primary School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
Coppice Primary Academy Both in reach Primary 0.21 mi 2025/26 0.3 mi
Broadfield Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.38 mi 2025/26 0.5 mi
Westwood Academy Both in reach Primary 0.74 mi 2025/26 0.6 mi
Greenhill Academy Both in reach Primary 0.53 mi 2025/26 0.7 mi
Corpus Christi RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Both in reach Primary 0.08 mi 2025/26 0.8 mi
Horton Mill Community Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.43 mi 2025/26 1.0 mi

The distance as a picture

St Thomas CofE Primary School catchment area map: the 3.69 mile admission distance, 2025/26 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 characterChurch of England
Sixth formDoes not have a sixth form
How full 491 pupils in 522 places (94% full)
TrustCROMPTON HOUSE CHURCH OF ENGLAND MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
Local authorityOldham

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Good, inspected 05 January 2020
Meeting the expected standard 62.0% in reading, writing and maths (2024/25)
YearMeeting the expected standard
2024/25 62.0%
2023/24 51.0%
2022/23 43.0%

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

Who goes to St Thomas CofE Primary School

Girls and boys48.3% girls, 51.7% boys
English as an additional language82.3% of pupils
Free school meals38.7% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

What it costs to live within reach of St Thomas CofE Primary School

Cheapest district inside the 3.69 miles: OL1, median £132,000. Dearest: OL2, £248,000.

DistrictAreaFrom the schoolMedian sold price
OL1 Oldham 1.2 mi £132,000 55 sales
OL6 Tameside 3.2 mi £149,000 99 sales
OL8 Oldham 0.7 mi £150,000 96 sales
OL7 Tameside 3.1 mi £170,000 38 sales
M24 Rochdale 3.3 mi £170,000 72 sales
OL9 Oldham 0.9 mi £172,000 96 sales
M35 Oldham 2.3 mi £180,000 105 sales
OL5 Tameside 3.6 mi £185,000 104 sales
M40 Manchester 3.5 mi £195,000 23 sales
OL4 Oldham 2.1 mi £210,000 123 sales
OL2 Oldham 2.7 mi £248,000 168 sales
How to read this

The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 3.69 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 St Thomas CofE Primary School by bus

Best-served stop: Osborne Road, 0.1 mi away, with 0.8 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 09:43, last 18:43.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
Osborne Road0.1 mi0.80.00.0183
Osborne Road0.1 mi0.80.00.0183
Lee Street0.1 mi0.80.00.0183

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 St Thomas CofE Primary School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around OL8: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at OL8 1SE, 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 St Thomas CofE Primary School?

St Thomas CofE Primary 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 2025/26 lived 3.69 miles away, per Oldham.

How close do I need to live to get a place at St Thomas CofE Primary School?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 3.69 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 St Thomas CofE Primary School guarantee a place?

No. Admission criteria usually put looked-after children, siblings and faith criteria 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 Oldham school's distance

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

Put St Thomas CofE Primary 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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Admission distance published by Oldham. 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.