Set your home address to see how far away every school is, nearest first, with distance rings on the map.
It measures a straight line from your home address to each school, the shortest distance across the map. Set your home address and every school in view shows its distance, nearest first, with rings drawn at half a mile, one mile, two miles, three miles and five miles from your home. Your address stays in your browser and is never added to the page link, so sharing the link does not share where you live.
Not always. Every school's admission arrangements must say how distance is measured, and the methods differ. Many councils use a straight line, and some use the shortest walking route, which can be much longer. They also differ on where they measure from and to, such as the front door of your home or the main gate of the school. Check the admissions booklet from your council or the school before relying on a distance close to a cut-off.
Set your home address, then press Compare on up to six schools. Each one gets its own coloured line from your home with the distance written on it, so you can see at a glance which is nearest. The schools you compare are kept in the page link, so you can send it to someone else or come back to it later.
No. Distance only matters when a school has more applicants than places, and then it offers places in the order its admission criteria set out. Children in care or adopted from care come first by law. Most schools put brothers and sisters of current pupils next, then distance or catchment area. Faith schools and grammar schools use different criteria. How far away the last place went changes every year, depending on who applies.