School designated (catchment) areas

This page provides information on the designated areas – or catchment areas – which have been determined or proposed by Devon County Council or the governing bodies and trusts of schools that have responsibility for their own arrangements.

Designated areas and school admissions

The decision about whether a school will operate a designated area for admissions purposes lies with the school’s admissions authority. For most schools in Devon, there is an admissions priority for children if they live in the school’s designated area. It is helpful for you to know whether or not your child lives in a school’s designated area.

The following schools do not operate admissions catchment or designated areas:

All Saints C of E Primary School (Marsh), Newton Abbot
Atlantic Academy
Brayford Academy
Colyton Grammar School
High Bickington Church of England Academy
Kingsteignton School
Monkerton Community Primary School (will have a catchment area from 2025/26)
Our Lady and St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School, Teignmouth
Our Lady’s Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple
Sparkwell All Saints Primary School
South Devon UTC
St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School
St John’s Catholic Primary School, Tiverton
St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Exmouth
St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Newton Abbot
St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Axminster
St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Buckfast
St Nicholas Catholic Primary School, Exeter
St Peter’s C of E Aided School, Exeter
Thomas Hall School, Exeter
Westclyst Community Primary School (will have a catchment area from 2025/26)
Witheridge Church of England Academy

You can view their admission arrangements for each academic year in full on their own websites or at arrangements and policies.

Designated areas and school transport

The decision about whether a school’s designated area will be accepted for transport lies with the Local Authority.

If you live in the Devon County Council area, you can receive free transport to and from the nearest school under certain circumstances:

Your child is at the nearest available secondary school and lives more than 3 miles from their school.
Your child is at the nearest available primary school and lives more than 2 miles from their school.

There is further entitlement for secondary school pupils with a low household income and for those with a low household income attending the nearest available faith school. In all cases, children must satisfy the distance criterion for school transport. More information about school transport.

Additionally, we provide free transport to children who satisfy the distance criterion above and who attend a single school designated for their address. The designated area maps will tell you whether you may be entitled to transport on designated school grounds. For Further Education Colleges and school sixth forms, Devon recognises designated areas for transport purposes and supports transport where a student is unable to make other arrangements either independently or with the support of their establishment.

The Education Transport Policy is set by the Council and not by individual schools. While some schools can set their own designated areas, the decision whether to provide transport on designated school grounds for all or part of that area lies with the Council.

Exceptions to designated school transport

Newton Abbot - Newton Abbot College and Coombeshead Academy
Transport on designated school grounds is only available to one secondary school. Residents of Newton Abbot should be aware that the designated areas for the schools are the same. Priority for residents will exist to both schools for admissions purposes but transport on designated school grounds will only be available to the single designated college.

When you click within the Newton Abbot area, both secondary schools will be named as the designated secondary school – the designated school for transport purposes will be named first. In the southern and eastern part of the area that will be Newton Abbot College; in the northern and western part, it will be Coombeshead Academy.

Example 1, addresses in Ipplepen will show Coombeshead/Newton Abbot as the designated secondary school. There is:
- admissions priority for Ipplepen residents to both Coombeshead Academy and Newton Abbot College
- designated school transport only to Coombeshead where it is more than three miles from home
- nearest school transport to whichever school is nearest to the home address, where it is more than three miles from home
- low income transport entitlement to any one of the three closest schools to the home address where they lie between two and six miles from home
Example 2, addresses in Kingskerswell will show Newton Abbot/Coombeshead as the designated secondary school. There is:
- admissions priority for Kingskerswell residents to both Newton Abbot College and Coombeshead Academy
- designated school transport only to Newton Abbot College where it is more than three miles from home
- nearest school transport to whichever school is nearest to the home address, where it is more than three miles from home
- low income transport entitlement to any one of the three closest schools to the home address where they lie between two and six miles from home
The statutory entitlement to free transport on nearest school grounds to whichever college is the closest to home or on low-income grounds will continue to be available.
Sidmouth – Sidmouth CofE Primary School

Transport on designated school grounds is only available to one of the primary school’s three sites.

Residents of Sidmouth should be aware that the former Infant and Junior Schools in the town have been replaced by a single primary school but using the same three sites. Children in Key Stage 2 will be educated at the former junior school site and transport entitlement will be unaffected.

For Key Stage 1 children, transport will not be available on designated school grounds to both former infant school sites. It will be available to the nearer of the two sites only. Once a place has been offered for your Key Stage 1 child, you will be invited to express a preference for which site you would like your child to attend. Please consider whether there will be a transport entitlement.
Crediton - Queen Elizabeth’s

For children attending Queen Elizabeth’s, entitlement to education transport support on designated school grounds will be based on the distance from home to the site at which the pupil will be educated: Lower School or Upper School. Please note transport entitlement may be affected as pupils move from the Lower to the Upper School.
Exeter – St Michael’s Church of England Primary Academy

St Michael’s Primary School operates a designated area for admissions purposes which overlaps with a number of other primary schools in the city. It covers the area of the parish of Heavitree and there are significantly more children in this area than the school could accommodate. Every address has another designated school.

The majority of addresses lie within a walking distance of two miles and therefore would not have a general entitlement to transport.

Those addresses beyond two miles have another designated school closer and it is to the other school that designated school transport would be available if the walking distance is further than two miles. Consequently, there is no entitlement to transport on designated school grounds to St Michael’s.
Barnstaple - Pilton Bluecoat Academy

The academy trust has extended its designated area to the west by approximately 300 metres west along the A361, to include the whole of Horridge, Ashford and Ashford House. This covers part of the pre- existing designated area for Southmead School. While there will be an admissions priority for Pilton from these addresses, the LA will not provide free transport on designated school ground, although there is an entitlement to transport on nearest school grounds where addresses are further than a walking distance of two miles.
Bickleigh and Wembury

The designated areas for Bickleigh Down Church of England Primary School and Wembury Primary School do not have designated secondary schools. Previously, they were in area for Combe Dean School and Tor Bridge High respectively. As Plymouth schools, they no longer operate designated areas. Consequently, addresses in Bickleigh and Wembury do not have an admissions priority for secondary school. Nevertheless, the LA will support free transport on designated grounds to Combe Dean School and Tor Bridge High respectively where addresses are further than a walking distance of three miles.
Abbotsham

The admissions designated area for St Helen’s Church of England Primary School consists of the ecclesiastical parishes of Abbotsham and Alwington. This differs from the designated area previously recognised by Devon. Where the parish catchment overlaps into the catchments for other schools, there will be priority for admission but no entitlement to free school transport on designated school grounds. If an address in these areas is further than a walking distance of 2 miles AND St Helen’s is the closest school available then there would be an entitlement to free school transport on nearest school grounds.
Feniton

From the academic year 2018-19, there will be no entitlement on catchment school grounds for new applicants living in that part of the school’s catchment area around Talaton that is shared with Payhembury. New applicants in this area for whom Feniton is the closest school and where it is not less than 2 miles from home will be entitled to free school transport.
Tavistock

From the academic year 2018-19, the catchment area for Tavistock Community Primary School will be expanded northwards, crossing over the existing catchment for St Rumon’s and St Peter’s infant and junior schools. None of this expanded area is further than a walking distance of 2 miles so there would be no entitlement to free school transport on catchment school grounds.
Uffculme School - the Willand area

Uffculme School extended its admissions catchment area from the start of the 2024-25 academic year to include the catchment area for Willand School. Children in this area will therefore have admission priority to both Uffculme School and Cullompton Community College.

Transport entitlement on catchment school grounds will remain solely to Cullompton Community College; it is not extended to include Uffculme.
Dartmouth and Kingswear

Kingswear Community Primary School has closed. The LA has invited Dartmouth Academy to extend its catchment area to cover the former Kingswear catchment. Until that process has taken place, there will be no primary school admissions priority for children living in the former Kingswear area. There will, however, be an entitlement to school transport to Dartmouth Academy’s primary phase as well as to its secondary phase as if the catchment area had been extended.

It will be for the Education South-West multi-academy trust to seek authority from the Secretary of State to emend its admissions policies for 2024-25 and 2025-26 and to formally consult on an extended catchment area for 2026-27.