How to measure your home-to-school distance for Southwark primary school applications

[Emski]

I've spent some time researching this after we didn't get any of our primary school 'choices' last year and thought I'd post my findings to help anyone applying now. Southwark Council unhelpfully refuses to make its measuring software available to its residents.

There are a few online tools you can use, but they are only estimates and results vary massively. As we discovered, every metre counts so getting an accurate calculation is definitely worth it if you're in doubt. Using this method will give you the exact distance that Southwark will use.

Find the map co-ordinates (Eastings and Northings) of your address using http://gridreferencefinder.com. Make sure you place the pin in the centre of your property (this is the point they use - not your front door).

For the school's grid reference, use the list supplied by Southwark (gained using an FOI) attached here.

You then use Pythagoras' theorem (yes, there is a real-world use for it!!) to calculate the distance in this way:

1. Take the digits of the smaller Easting value away from the larger Easting.

2. Multiply this number by itself.

3. Take the digits of the smaller Northing value away from the larger Northing.

4. Multiply this number by itself.

5. Add together the two numbers.

6. Get the square root of this value (using the square root button on your calculator - turn your iphone sideways to find this).

This is your distance from the school in metres.

Instructions are also given here:

https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/resources/maps-and-geographic-resources/calculating-distances-using-grid-references.html

Good luck to everyone applying this January.

[Indiana]

Thanks so much for posting this Emski - really useful and I actually managed to follow your instructions!

[theratprincess]

Thanks - this is really helpful. I've discovered I am 20m nearer than I thought I was to our first choice school.

I don't suppose anyone has the Eastings and Northings for Lewisham's schools?

[trefford21]

Very helpful. Not sure if this will work but the link below should take you to a calculator where you enter your home easting and northing and it will do the calculation for you. I suspect if several people try to do it at once then they will overwrite each other's numbers, so maybe come back to it in a day or two (or in the middle of the night!)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0An_oLkqLTjUKdFRtV0xmVk0wRjBaazBQLTBXS2x2NUE&usp=sharing#gid=0

[vez]

We are in the Lewisham borough so all I did was call the LEA and they told me exactly my ten nearest schools and the exact distances from our front door. This gave us a very clear idea and we are actually a few metres closer to our favourite than what google maps suggested.