Hadley Wood and catchment area confusion

[Packupyourbags]

Hi,

I am considering moving to the Hadley Wood area. Recently, I have been told that living in Hadley Wood I would not be able to apply for Barnet schools such as QE girls or Ark Pioneer Academy, even if the distance is reasonable, around 1-1.3miles.

Is this correct? Does anyone know where to look? There is no specific information online that I could find for applying across boroughs.

The Barnet schools are much closer than the Enfield ones, so I hope my friend is wrong.

Thanks.

I don’t know this area but you can apply to any LA school you like. You may not get a place, depending on admissions criteria, but I would get a place in a school in Cornwall, applying from Nottingham, if it had space.

I see, thank you for the helpful answer @clary , that is reassuring to know 🙏

You can apply, but there are parts of Hadley Wood that are no man’s land in terms of catchment areas. From the top of my head, I can’t think of any schools that it’s in the catchment for. Maybe Southgate School? (It’s not a very popular choice though!)

The distance QE girls took last year was 4.2 miles. Hadley Wood looks nearer than that. I’d say you had a shot!

What do you mean? Would it not be possible to apply for Barnet schools?

I looked and Southgate school is a longer distance (as the crow flies) that most Barnet schools.

@Packupyourbags How far are you away from Barnet schools?

YOu'll need to look at the admissions policy for each of the schools (on their website) and see whether children in Barnet are given priority over children in Enfield, or if distance is the only criteria.

There is cross-London school applications so you can apply for 6 schools in any borough. Some selective schools only accept applicationsfrom/offer places to those in certain postcodes though so you will have to check whether you are within those. Most schools come down to distance as crow flies. Some have priority postcode areas to avoid people in "black hole" areas being left without a school. You should be able to check school admissions priorities on the school's website and check furthest distance offered from the council websites.

QE Girls would be 1.1, Ark Academy 1.3m

So why would dc not get a place at ome or the other? I’d look at their admission stats.

The point is @Packupyourbags you can apply – there is nothing to stop you doing that.
PPs are suggesting that it may (or may not) be unlikely that you will get a place (which might be what your friend means) but you can still apply and if you get 6 choices then it’s not an issue to make one of them a bit optimistic.

Check on Enfield Councils website and you should see that Hadley Wood addresses are in the priority zone for Southgate School

As PP says, you can DEFINITELY apply for schools in other boroughs. You just need to see how likely you are to get a place, and make sure you include at least one school where you are likely to get in.

You can look up 'Barnet Secondary Allocations 2025' and it will show last distance admitted. This is the March distance, and more places may be offered off the waiting list. I have added a photo that shows Ark. You can see they went to 1.132 in the first round of offers, so your address may have been a bit too far away this year. You should still apply though, as each year is different and that distance will likely get a bit bigger with waiting list places.

Edited to say QE girls went over 5 miles this year.

I’m sure you’ve considered this OP but do look into the transport options for school. Hadley Wood has poor buses and no tube, and while the train is decent if you want to get to the city, it’s rubbish for getting to the nearest High Street (Barnet).

QE girls went out over 5 miles though - pic attached.

Thank you everyone for all the helpful advice 🙏