← School guide Admissions

The Derby High School

Academy converter in Lancs, BL9 9NH, taking ages 11 to 16.

Good Ofsted, Jul 2023
1.8 mi Admitted from, latest published year

Will an address get in?

In the latest published round, the furthest child offered a place lived 1.8 miles away.

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

The circle is 1.8 miles, the distance the school admitted from in the latest published year.

The Derby High School: 1.8 miles St Luke's CofE Primary School: 0.59 miles, published by Bury

This is not a catchment area. 1.8 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 Derby High 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: Bury, published admission distances

Where The Derby High School and St Luke's CofE Primary School are both in reach

Both distances are drawn on the map above. St Luke's CofE Primary School admitted from 0.59 miles in the latest published year, published by Bury. Its own page has the rest of its figures.

No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 1.8 and 0.59 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 Luke's CofE Primary School and go back to one school.

If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Bury, 46 of 158 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (29.1%; 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 Derby High School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
St Luke's CofE Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.59 mi 0.6 mi
Chantlers Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.36 mi 1.1 mi
Greenhill Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.49 mi 1.1 mi
Hollins Grundy Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.79 mi 1.4 mi
Gorsefield Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.68 mi 1.5 mi
Lowercroft Primary School Both in reach Primary 1.82 mi 1.5 mi

The distance as a picture

The Derby High School catchment area map: the 1.8 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
TrustPRESTOLEE MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
Local authorityBury

Department for Education register (GIAS).

What it costs to live within reach of The Derby High School

Cheapest district inside the 1.8 miles: M26, median £135,000. Dearest: BL8, £195,000.

DistrictAreaFrom the schoolMedian sold price
M26 Bury 1.8 mi £135,000 105 sales
BL9 Bury 1.1 mi £145,000 78 sales
BL8 Bury 1.7 mi £195,000 118 sales
How to read this

The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 1.8 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 The Derby High School by bus

Best-served stop: Vale Avenue, 0.2 mi away, with 1.2 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 06:52, last 20:59.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
The Derby High School0.2 mi0.20.00.0899, 966
Vale Avenue0.2 mi1.20.50.4513, 886, 888, 899, 966
Vale Avenue0.2 mi1.20.50.4513, 886, 888, 966

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 Derby High School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around BL9: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at BL9 9NH, 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 Derby High School?

The Derby High 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 1.8 miles away, per Bury.

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

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 1.8 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 The Derby High 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 Bury school's distance

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

Put The Derby High 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.

Show the badge and its code

The Derby High School badge

Admission distance published by Bury. 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.