What schools serve Buxton?

There are 25 schools in Buxton, Derbyshire, including Buxton Junior School, Buxton Infant School, Harpur Hill Primary School, Peak Dale Primary School, Fairfield Infant and Nursery School and more. You can view each school's catchment area guidance and admissions policy on catchment.school.

How many primary and secondary schools are in Buxton?

Buxton has 20 primary schools and 2 secondary schools. There are also 3 other schools (such as all-through or special schools) in the area. All data is sourced from the Department for Education's GIAS register.

How do I find out if my address is in a school's catchment area in Buxton?

To check whether your address falls within a school's catchment area in Buxton, use the postcode search tool at catchment.school. Catchment area boundaries for Buxton schools are set by Derbyshire and reviewed each year. You can also consult the school's admissions policy or contact the Derbyshire admissions team directly for the most up-to-date boundary maps.

Who sets catchment area boundaries for schools in Buxton?

Catchment area boundaries for schools in Buxton are set by Derbyshire as the admissions authority. Community and voluntary-controlled schools follow the council's published admissions policy, while academies and voluntary-aided schools may set their own. Boundaries are reviewed annually and published each September for the following academic year.

Schools in Buxton

Reviewed by the catchment.school editorial team · Last updated 15 March 2026

Buxton is the highest market town in England, and its 20 primary schools serve a large rural hinterland across the High Peak - including villages such as Dove Holes, Chapel-en-le-Frith and Whaley Bridge. Derbyshire County Council co-ordinates community school admissions using a nearest-school distance criterion, but rural primary catchments here can extend several miles because of the dispersed population across the Peak District.

Secondary provision in Buxton is handled by Peak School (for pupils with special educational needs) and the town's main secondary, Buxton Community School, which takes the majority of local comprehensive-age pupils. Derbyshire's co-ordinated secondary round closes in October with offers on National Offer Day (1 March). Families living in outlying villages should check carefully which secondary their address falls closest to, as distance-based allocation can place edge-of-town postcodes at a disadvantage - use catchment.school to verify.

School demand in Buxton

Across the 22 schools in Buxton with published capacity data, the average fill rate is 70%. 1 of them is currently at or above their published admission number, and at those schools catchment distance is likely to decide places at the next intake.

15 schools in Buxton have a religious character, so faith criteria sit alongside catchment distance in their admissions policies.

8 of the schools in Buxton are academies that set their own admissions criteria independently of Derbyshire, so check each school's policy directly rather than assuming the council default applies.

9 of the schools in Buxton have a current Ofsted rating, of which 8 are rated Good or Outstanding. Demand and catchment distance tend to be tightest at the highest-rated schools.

Primary schools in Buxton: 1 oversubscribed (20)

Buxton Junior School

Primary · Community school

Buxton · SK17 9DR

Ages 7-11 232 pupils Capacity 240

Buxton Infant School

Primary · Community school

Buxton · SK17 6QB

Ages 3-7 158 pupils Capacity 180

Harpur Hill Primary School

Primary · Community school

Buxton · SK17 9LP

Ages 2-11 287 pupils Capacity 350

Peak Dale Primary School

Primary · Community school

Buxton · SK17 8AJ

Ages 4-11 75 pupils Capacity 88

Fairfield Infant and Nursery School

Primary · Community school

Buxton · SK17 7PQ

Ages 2-7 149 pupils Capacity 180