mmm1980 wrote:
For some years the catchment area was too large, or maybe there were no children between 6 and 8 miles passing the test ? They indicated a 8 miles radius area, but they could not cover that. What about the children that pass and still are in the catchment area ? This may be very misleading for them and their parents.
My understanding from these figures is that in 2015 and 2017, the school reached PAN with applicants from relatively close to the school, whereas in 2016 and 2018, PAN was not reached with IC applicants, so OOC applicants were able to obtain a place. Just living within the formal catchment area (and passing the exam, in the case of a selective school) doesn't guarantee a place, if there are more applicants than there are places available. Which is why schools / LEAs now tend to refer to 'priority admissions area' rather than 'catchment'.
However, there is no explanation as to whether these distances were as of March 1st, or the 'last girl in' (one would expect the latter) or how much of an outlier the furthest one was, in the years when the furthest distance offered was obviously OOC. Also, it doesn't mean that everyone who applied, up to that distance, got in, as the admisdions policy has categories within both IC and OOC.