How do you know if you are in 'catchment' area?

[Fel1x]

Probably a silly question!! but have applied for DS to go to primary school.
His 'catchment' school is about 10 mins walk away. There is another school which is 5 mins walk away and is also closer as the crow flies. I did question if it was correct that the other school was down as his catchment school and the LEA said yes, it was strange seeing as other school is closer, but it was correct.
Now have just been looking at admissions criteria for 2nd school (non catchment one) which I want DS to go to and have put 1st on the list. It mentions in crieria about being 'in the catchment area' does this literally mean if its the stated catchment school? or is there a certain distance that you can be within around a school that makes you in the catchment area as well?
We are within 10 mins walk of at least 4 primary schools.

Different LEAs will draw up catchments in different ways, not always symmetrically iyswim. So yes, you can end up in a situation where you are nearer to another school than to your catchment school.

so am i in the 'catchment' area for ONLY my catchment school then? even if there are other schools closer or within the same distance - am I not in a catchment 'area' for them too?
does 'catchment area' just mean the same thing as 'catchment school'?

Phone the education department of your local council, they will be able to tell you which is your catchment school. You also may be able to find the information from the council's website (or even the school's own website).

Sorry, i am not being very clear at all.
I know which is my catchment school. It is school A which is 10 mins walk from my house.

I prefer my son to go to school B (5 mins away from us) or school C (10 mins away in other direction).
Both school B and C mention being in 'catchment area' in their admission criteria.
I am wondering if us being so close would put us in a 'catchment area' of them, or if you can only be in 'catchment area' of your 'catchment' school even if other schools are closer... hope that makes sense!!!

Ok I've now read your op properly, and my previous response didn't really answer your question - sorry.

Each school has a particular catchment area and if you live within that area that school will be your catchment school. Usually you are pretty much guaranteed to get into your catchment school, so if you put a different school down as your no. 1 choice there is a possibility that you won't be offered that school - it depends how oversubscribed it is, and whether your ds meets any of the other criteria. When we applied for dd's middle school we had a booklet that listed every school, which also gave the number of places available, the number of applications each school had received the previous year and how many unsuccessful applicants there were. Do you know of any other children who live out of this school's catchment area, but who were successful in obtaining a place?

It is very unlikely that schools B and C catchment zone will overlap the catchment zone for school A. However the only way to be absolutely sure is to get the info from your Local Authority. Many LAs have the information on maps on their website or use a postcode system to confirm, but not always the easiest things to find. It will be under school admissions and then probably under the primary school's admission documents.