Consultation on changes to the school catchment area for Kings’ School

This consultation will take place between Wednesday 24 June and Wednesday 22 July 2026.

Hampshire County Council is reviewing and consulting upon the school catchment area for Kings’ School, Winchester.

In 2024, one of Kings’ School’s linked schools, John Keble CE Primary School, expanded its catchment area to incorporate the former catchment of Ampfield CE Primary School following its closure.

At that time, no corresponding changes were made to the local secondary schools’ catchment areas. As a result, the former Ampfield CE Primary School’s catchment area remained within The Romsey Academy’s catchment. This created a disadvantage for Ampfield residents applying for Kings’ School’s, as they were being classified as out-catchment within Kings’ School’s admissions arrangements.

Hampshire County Council’s secondary schools’ catchment areas comprise of the catchment areas of their linked primary or junior schools’ catchment areas. This catchment consultation is proposing to change this anomaly by adding the former catchment area of Ampfield CE Primary School into Kings’ School’s catchment area, and ensuring the entirety of John Keble CE Primary School’s catchment falls within Kings’ School’s. This change would give Ampfield residents a catchment priority within Kings’ School’s admissions arrangements. 

Please follow the links below for maps showing the current and proposed catchment areas:

Current catchment area map
Proposed catchment area map

It is therefore proposed that the catchment boundary for Kings’ School be redrawn for school admissions from September 2028 onwards.

Hampshire County Council has discussed this proposal with The Romsey Academy, who are their own admission authority and responsible for their own catchment area. The Romsey Academy has confirmed that it will not be removing the Ampfield area from its catchment. As a result, the Ampfield area will become a shared catchment area for both The Romsey Academy and Kings’ School, with applicants being classified as in-catchment for both schools under each school’s admissions arrangements. Should The Romsey Academy’s position change and later opts to remove the Ampfield area from their catchment area, The Romsey Academy will undertake a consultation with details being published on its website.

Any comments on these proposals should be sent to Owain Hale-Heighway, Strategic Development Officer, Children’s Services Department, Hampshire County Council, Elizabeth II Court, The Castle, Winchester, SO23 8UG or by email to [email protected] by Wednesday 22 July 2026.

Any comments received will also be considered as part of the future statutory consultation on admission arrangements which takes place over six weeks in November and December 2026. A final decision which takes account of the statutory admissions consultation will be made by the Executive Member for Education in February 2027.