Orleans Park admissions: is catchment measured by straight-line or walking distance?

[GalOpal]

Hi everyone, a bit of a last_minute.com from me. We are currently in the process of moving house this September and thinking about Orleans Park school for my son who will be in year 6 in the academic year 26/27. We found a property at this postcode: TW1 1HA. Will it be in the catchment? The straight line distance is obvs in the catchment, but how do the measure it? In 2026, the last place was offered to a child who lives 1.11km away from the school. Is that a straight line or a walking route? The walking route from TW1 1HA is 1.2km. This is so confusing... The straight line is 0.76km (which will be well in the catchment area)but the walking route is so-so... Can someone help please?

Pretty sure distances are always straight line, as how could central admissions authority know all the possible walking routes to administer that fairly?

https://orleanspark.reactfiles.co.uk/uploads/keyinformation/Admission-Arrangements-Arrangements-27-28-.pdf?t=1765888001?ts=1783869346.

from here https://www.orleanspark.school/key-information/item/1/admissions. - 27/28 admissions.

it is the "shortest route by road or maintained footpath".

@AlphabetCucumber you couldn't be more wrong. Why would you post that without even checking whether its the right answer or not?

@GalOpal instead of trusting randoms on Mumsnet you need to read the admissions policy on school website and the council's Secondary Admissions brochure.

However, all the schools in Richmond borough use walking distance, calculated using the council's geographical information system (GIS), not straight line distance. You can get an approximate distance from Google maps, but it won't be exactly the same as the GIS distance.

Thank you! Can we check it on the system they use?
I was checking the Locrating website (paid subscription) and it clearly shows the
property we are thinking of in the last year’s admission area, however the walking distance is longer than 1.11km…

No - the admissions team don't tell people their GIS distance in advance of applying.

Previous years' distances are only a guide - they change every year. So Locrating is a waste of money.

@GalOpal If you look on the "Admissions Statistics" section near the bottom of this page it will show you how places were offered in the last 3 years, including how the distance has varied: https://www.orleanspark.school/key-information/item/1/admissions#

This is how Locrating work out their heat maps: https://www.locrating.com/Blog/locrating-catchment-areas-explained.aspx. They use Government school census data on where the previously admitted Year 7 students live (which is collected each January but not published until July, so will always be 1-2 years out of date), and they don't distinguish between whether students were admitted on distance, or as siblings, EHCPs, etc.

You’re likely to be fine from that address - there’s a walking route including the footpath over the railway bridge. But just to note:

1. you may not get the offer on the initial ‘National Offer Day’, but there is always movement on the OPS list as lots of people go private but wanted a back-up place
2. If you don’t get into OPS then RTS is the usual back-up (or Waldegrave for a DD, though you may be a little too far away).

Good luck with the move!