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Summerlea Community Primary School

Academy sponsor led in Littlehampton, BN16 3SW, taking ages 5 to 11, 377 on roll.

Requires improvement Ofsted, Jan 2023
3.68 mi Admitted from, 2025/26

Will an address get in?

In 2025/26, the furthest child offered a place lived 3.68 miles away.

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

The circle is 3.68 miles, the distance the school admitted from in 2025/26.

Summerlea Community Primary School: 3.68 miles, 2025/26 St Margaret's CofE Primary School: 1.38 miles, 2025/26, published by West Sussex

This is not a catchment area. 3.68 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 Summerlea Community 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 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 West Sussex. With two or more, the map can draw any of them.

Source: West Sussex, published admission distances, 2025/26

Where Summerlea Community Primary School and St Margaret's CofE Primary School are both in reach

Both distances are drawn on the map above. St Margaret's CofE Primary School admitted from 1.38 miles in 2025/26, published by West Sussex. Its own page has the rest of its figures.

No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 3.68 and 1.38 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 St Margaret's CofE Primary School and go back to one school.

If the answer is no, you can appeal. In West Sussex, 60 of 353 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 Summerlea Community Primary School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
Georgian Gardens Community Primary School Both in reach Primary 2.56 mi 2025/26 0.9 mi
Lyminster Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.45 mi 2025/26 1.3 mi
East Preston Infant School Both in reach Primary 4.52 mi 2025/26 1.5 mi
St Margaret's CofE Primary School Both in reach Primary 1.38 mi 2025/26 1.8 mi
St Philip's Catholic Primary School Both in reach Primary 2.47 mi 2025/26 3.3 mi

The distance as a picture

Summerlea Community Primary School catchment area map: the 3.68 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 characterNo religious character
Sixth formDoes not have a sixth form
TrustSCHOOLSWORKS ACADEMY TRUST
Local authorityWest Sussex

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Requires improvement, inspected 31 January 2023
YearMeeting the expected standard
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 Summerlea Community Primary School

Girls and boys45.9% girls, 54.1% boys
English as an additional language7.2% of pupils
Free school meals9.5% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

What it costs to live within reach of Summerlea Community Primary School

Cheapest district inside the 3.68 miles: BN17, median £275,000. Dearest: BN16, £300,000.

DistrictAreaFrom the schoolMedian sold price
BN17 Arun 1.1 mi £275,000 137 sales
BN16 Arun 0.9 mi £300,000 108 sales
How to read this

The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 3.68 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 Summerlea Community Primary School by bus

Best-served stop: Hollyhock Way, 0.2 mi away, with 4.8 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 06:06, last 23:16.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
Summerlea Primary School118 yd3.92.02.9701
Summerlea Primary School161 yd3.81.53.0701
Westlands0.2 mi3.92.02.9701

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 Summerlea Community Primary School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around BN16: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at BN16 3SW, 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 Summerlea Community Primary School?

Summerlea Community 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 3.68 miles away, per West Sussex.

How close do I need to live to get a place at Summerlea Community Primary School?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 3.68 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 Summerlea Community Primary 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 West Sussex school's distance

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

Put Summerlea Community 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 West Sussex. 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.