There is no "map" of the school catchment area, there is no fixed catchment. After children in (or formerly in) public care, children of staff, siblings and siblings of previous students, places are offered to those applicants living closest to the school who meet the church commitment criterion in the first instance.

Distances are measured on a straight line basis and can be requested directly from the Admissions Dept at Hertfordshire County Council.

The number of siblings and other “high priority” applicants can vary widely, and this affects how close one might need to live in order to be likely to be offered a place. Numbers are impacted by a.o. year groups with low sibling numbers, the number opting for independent education, and the number of first place preferences for St George’s, 

A few years ago, in 2018 the Governors agreed to offer, as a one-off, an additional 30 places for entry. This allowed places to be offered to many more church applicant families. However, this will not be repeated. The admission number will be 170 day plus 10 boarder students.

In 2023, the distance reached by the last church member was 4.4km with 95 siblings. In 2024, the distance was 9.7km and 71 siblings.

You don't have to attend church to apply. However, St George’s School is a multi-denominational Christian foundation and those families that show they attend church regularly, will be able to apply under the Christian commitment criterion which ranks higher than distance alone.  The school is generally oversubscribed at this level.  

You don't have to attend a particular school or church to apply. St George’s School is a multi-denominational Christian foundation.  Those families that show they attend Christian church regularly will be able to apply under the Christian commitment criterion which ranks higher than distance alone.  The school is generally oversubscribed at this level.   

To successfully satisfy the church attendance criteria, your church must belong to Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (website: www.ctbi.org.uk) or be in association with the Evangelical Alliance (website: www.eauk.org ); this church can be located anywhere within the UK.  Overseas churches that belong to a Christian denomination as verified by their church leader are also eligible.

The School does not have feeder schools and therefore the primary school attended by the applicant is not relevant to the application process.

We do not have entrance exams. 

Once children in (or formerly in) public care, children of staff, siblings and siblings of previous students have been allocated, the next criterion is Christian commitment.  To meet this criterion, the child and at least one parent should attend a Christian church at least once a month and have done so for two years.  Your church leader will be asked to sign a letter confirming this.  

If the school is oversubscribed at this stage, it will use the next two criteria as a tie-break.  Those applicants who have a church commitment, live in the school’s priority area (civil parish of Ayot St Lawrence, Flamstead, Harpenden, Harpenden Rural, Kimpton, Kings Walden, Markyate, Redbourn, St Paul’s Walden and Wheathampstead) and have a social/medical reason which makes St George’s uniquely suitable are ranked next.  

The final criteria for a tie-break are church commitment and the shortest distance from the child’s normal residence to school, which is measured on a straight-line basis.

Those applications that do not meet the Church commitment will be ranked after this.

As a guideline, around half of places are taken each year by siblings or former siblings.  However, this does vary significantly from year to year.

St George’s School is a Christian school and is allowed in law to give priority to applicants who satisfy the Christian church attendance criteria. Attendance at other faith settings does not qualify. Children of other faiths or indeed no faith can be admitted, but the school generally runs out of places to allocate within the Christian church attendance criteria.

There are numerous students of other faiths on the school roll, who perhaps joined the school as sixth formers, on the child-of-staff criteria, 'child in public care' criteria, or maybe as a result of a successful school appeal.

St George’s School takes very seriously the need for the process to be fair and transparent. We use all means available to check the firm standing of addresses and references. We will not allocate places where we detect applicants who have entered wilfully misleading information. It is rare for this to occur, but we put disproportionate resources and attention into this aspect of admissions, to be sure no valid applicant loses out to sharp practice.

St George’s School takes most of its day pupils at Secondary Transfer and therefore, all year groups tend to be full and oversubscribed.  Should you wish to make an application outside of Secondary Transfer window, you will need to contact the Admissions Officer for a separate form which, once completed, will be added to the waiting list. Should a place become available, your application will be considered along with others on the waiting list.