Rathfern Primary School admissions: how far away places were offered

Reception offers at Rathfern Primary School, year by year

Things to know before you apply for September 2027

• Less predictable The distance cut-off has moved a lot from year to year (between 314 m and 1,257 m, or 0.20 and 0.78 miles), and the share of places going to siblings has swung (41 of 60 places in 2022, 17 of 60 in 2026). Treat past cut-offs here with extra caution.
• The distance cut-off grew from 0.65 miles in 2025 to 0.78 miles in 2026.

Ofsted inspection

Ofsted inspected Rathfern Primary School on 20 January 2026 and published a report card, which grades each area separately and gives no overall grade. Safeguarding standards were met.

• Ofsted has used report cards since 10 November 2025. Each area gets its own grade, and Ofsted says the new grades can’t be compared with the old ones. How Ofsted grades schools
• From Ofsted’s data as at 30 September 2026. An inspection after that date may not be shown yet: the full report on Ofsted’s website is always the latest.

Read the full report on Ofsted’s website Source: Management information - state-funded schools - latest inspections as at 30 Sep 2026 (Ofsted, published 16 October 2026). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Admission criteria at Rathfern Primary School

If more children apply than there are places, the 2026 rules offer places in this order. In 2026, the last places went to children in group 5.

1. Looked-after children and children who were previously looked after (adopted, or under a child arrangements or special guardianship order), including children adopted from state care outside England.
2. Children with an exceptional medical or social need for this school, supported by a letter from a hospital consultant, social worker or similar professional and decided with a panel of teaching and medical professionals. Children of full-time service personnel are also given priority under this criterion.
3. Children with a brother or sister on the school's roll on the closing date who will still be there when the child starts (not a Year 6 child moving to secondary school). Siblings must live at the same address.
4. Children of staff employed at the school for two or more years when the application is made, or recruited to a post with a demonstrable skill shortage.
5. Other children, nearest first: a straight line from a point in the home to a central point in the school premises, measured by Lewisham Council's mapping software. In a block of flats the lowest door number comes first; otherwise equal cases are settled by drawing lots.

Read the official admission rulesAdmission arrangements 2027/28 for the London Borough of Lewisham's community schools (determined): criteria, "Fifth criterion: distance" and Appendix A admission numbers. The school’s own published arrangements always take priority over our summary.