Top 10 best schools in Kentish Town to buy or rent near - primary, secondary, sixth form and the streets in reach

Kentish Town has some of the most oversubscribed primary schools in Camden, and the difference between getting a place and missing out can be a couple of hundred metres. This guide sets out the best schools to buy or rent near, the 2025 cut-off distances for every school in NW5, the streets that sit inside them, and what those streets cost.

If you are buying in Kentish Town with a child under five, the school question usually comes before the kitchen question. Camden's primary schools do not use catchment areas. Places at community schools go to the children who live closest, measured in a straight line to the centre of the school, and at the most popular schools that line is very short. In April 2025, the furthest child offered a place at Eleanor Palmer lived 0.124 miles away, according to Camden Council's Starting School in Camden guide, published in November 2025.

Rochester Place has been selling and letting family homes in Kentish Town from our office on Kentish Town Road since 2004. The ten primary schools below are the ones buyers ask us about most, with the admissions data that actually decides who gets in.

Key points: schools in Kentish Town in 2026

• Camden pupils outperform the national average. 73% of Camden pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined in 2025 (provisional), against 62% nationally and 68% across London, according to Camden Council.
• There are no catchment areas. Camden community schools allocate on straight-line distance to the school's centre after looked-after children, siblings and exceptional need. The cut-off changes every year.
• The tightest school in NW5 is Eleanor Palmer, which received 224 applications for 30 places in 2025 and admitted to 0.124 miles.
• The average Camden house price was £833,000 in June 2026 (provisional), with flats and maisonettes averaging £688,000, according to the ONS and HM Land Registry. That is a borough figure; Kentish Town street prices vary widely around it.
• The next application deadline is 15 January 2027 for children born between 1 September 2022 and 31 August 2023, with offers on 16 April 2027. Your address on the closing date is the one that counts.
• Secondary places follow a separate cycle. Year 7 applications for September 2027 close on 31 October 2026. Acland Burghley, Parliament Hill, William Ellis and Camden School for Girls are all within NW5.

Is Kentish Town a good place to buy a home with a family?

Yes, if the budget stretches to it: Kentish Town combines primary schools that Camden and Islington report as good or outstanding, secondary options within walking distance, zone 2 transport and real green space, which is a combination few parts of London offer in one postcode. The trade-off is price. The June 2026 borough average was £833,000 in Camden against £554,000 for London as a whole, according to the ONS, and the streets nearest the most oversubscribed schools sit above the borough figure. Kentish Town also has something Hampstead and Highgate do not: three secondary schools and a shared sixth form inside a ten-minute walk of the Northern line.

For a family deciding where in London to buy, the practical test is this: can you afford a home inside the cut-off distance of a primary school you like, within walking distance of a secondary you would accept, on a street you would still want to live on once the children have left? Kentish Town passes that test more often than most inner-London areas, and the sections below show exactly which streets.

Why do families move to Kentish Town for the schools?

Families move here because the schools are strong and the area still feels like a neighbourhood rather than a commute. Kentish Town sits in fare zone 2 with the Northern line and Thameslink from Kentish Town station, the Overground from Kentish Town West and Gospel Oak, and Hampstead Heath a short walk up Highgate Road. Camden Council reports that all of its 38 primary schools have good or outstanding Ofsted outcomes, and its Community Investment Programme has put £165 million into school buildings across the borough.

The trade-off is competition. The council's own booklet is blunt about it: a child can be admitted to a school one year, and the next year a child on the same road can be too far away. That is why the cut-off distances below matter more than any league table.

How does Camden decide who gets a primary school place?

For Camden's 18 community schools, places are offered in this order once children with an education, health and care plan naming the school have been placed: looked-after and previously looked-after children; siblings already at the school; children with an exceptional social or medical need linked to that school; children of staff who have worked there for two years; and then everyone else by distance, measured as the crow flies from home to the centre of the school using the council's mapping system.

Voluntary aided church schools such as Kentish Town CE and St Patrick's set their own criteria and usually need a supplementary form. You can name up to six schools on one application at eadmissions.org.uk, and the council recommends using all six. Camden verifies addresses against council records and credit reference agencies, and it will withdraw a place obtained with a false or temporary address even after the child has started.

Top 10 primary schools in Kentish Town to buy or rent near: the ranking

How this ranking works: Camden Council reports good or outstanding Ofsted outcomes at every one of its primaries, so the grade does not separate them. What does is demand. Schools are ranked by applications per place in the April 2025 round, with the cut-off distance as the tie-break, because a school that 200 local families fight over is the market's own verdict. All figures from the council's Starting School in Camden 2026 guide.

1. Eleanor Palmer: 224 applications for 30 places (7.5 per place), cut-off 0.124 miles. The most oversubscribed primary in NW5.
2. Torriano: 225 for 58 (3.9 per place), 0.379 miles.
3. Hawley: 115 for 30 (3.8 per place), 0.467 miles, at the Camden Lock end.
4. Gospel Oak: 194 for 60 (3.2 per place), 0.522 miles.
5. Kentish Town CE: 97 for 30 (3.2 per place), community route 0.961 miles.
6. Fleet: 95 for 30 (3.2 per place); places remained.
7. Brookfield: 155 for 60 (2.6 per place), 0.883 miles, on the Dartmouth Park side.
8. Rhyl: 85 for 60 (1.4 per place); all distance applicants admitted.
9. Brecknock: 80 for 60 (1.3 per place), 2.158 miles; 30 places from 2026.
10. St Patrick's Catholic: 20 for 30; faith criteria; places available.

Top 10 primary schools in Kentish Town: 2025 admissions data

Figures below are from the results table on page 40 of Camden's Starting School in Camden 2026 guide, showing the position on offer day in April 2025, with April 2024 in brackets. Distances are straight-line miles. "n/a" means the school still had places after offer day, so distance was not the deciding factor.

*Kentish Town CE offers faith and community places; distance shown is the community route. Source: Camden Council, Starting School in Camden 2026, published November 2025; offer-day position April 2025 with April 2024 in brackets; straight-line miles; "n/a" means places remained after offer day.

1. Eleanor Palmer Primary School, Lupton Street NW5 2JA

Best for: families who can buy within a few streets of the gate.

Eleanor Palmer is the hardest primary place to get in Kentish Town, and it is not close. Seven and a half applications for every place in 2025, and the last child offered lived 0.124 miles away, roughly 200 metres. In practice that means Lupton Street itself, the nearer ends of Lady Margaret Road, Falkland Road and Countess Road, and the Burghley Road and Ospringe Road terraces that back onto the school. These are the Victorian streets buyers picture when they think of the Kentish Town and Tufnell Park border, and they carry a premium partly because of this school. If Eleanor Palmer is the plan, view houses for sale in Kentish Town with a measuring tool open, not just a map. The latest inspection report is on the Ofsted reports site.

2. Torriano Primary School, Torriano Avenue NW5 2SJ

Best for: the streets between Leighton Road and Camden Road.

Torriano had almost identical demand to Eleanor Palmer in 2025, 225 applications, but with 58 places its reach stretches to 0.379 miles. That takes in Torriano Avenue, Leighton Road, Lady Somerset Road, Bartholomew Road, Caversham Road and the northern end of Camden Park Road. The school runs Camden's additionally resourced provision for children with language disorders, which speaks to the depth of its staffing. Torriano's reach has been stable for two years, at 0.339 miles in 2024 and 0.379 in 2025, which makes it one of the more predictable bets in NW5. Many of the best streets to buy in Kentish Town sit inside this radius.

3. Hawley Primary School, 3 Hawley Road NW1 8RP

Best for: the southern end of Kentish Town Road towards Camden Lock.

Hawley is the most oversubscribed community school in Camden Town: 115 applications for 30 places in 2025, with the last place going to a child 0.467 miles away, out from 0.324 in 2024. It shares executive leadership with Eleanor Palmer, which explains some of its pull. From Kentish Town the reach covers Hawley Road, Hawley Crescent, Castlehaven Road, Leybourne Road and the streets either side of the lower Kentish Town Road. Source: Camden Council. See property for sale in Camden for this end.

4. Gospel Oak Primary School, Mansfield Road NW3 2JB

Best for: buyers who want the Heath on the doorstep.

Gospel Oak is a two-form-entry school with 60 places and 194 applications in 2025. The cut-off tightened sharply from 0.856 miles in 2024 to 0.522 in 2025, which is a useful warning against relying on last year's figure. Mansfield Road, Oak Village, Lisburne Road, Savernake Road and Estelle Road are all comfortably inside it, and all are a few minutes from Parliament Hill Fields. Gospel Oak Overground station is on Mansfield Road for the Barking Riverside line and the connection at Highbury & Islington. If you are weighing Gospel Oak against the streets nearer the tube, our guide to buying in Dartmouth Park covers the streets just to the north.

5. Kentish Town Church of England Primary School, Islip Street NW5 2TU

Best for: churchgoing families, and anyone on the Islip Street and Gaisford Street terraces.

Kentish Town CE is a voluntary aided school that offers both faith-based places, which need a supplementary form, and community places. The community cut-off swung from 0.219 miles in 2024 to 0.961 in 2025, so the sensible reading is that the open places are uncertain year to year, while the faith route follows its own criteria. Islip Street, Gaisford Street, Patshull Road, Oseney Crescent and Bartholomew Villas are the streets in immediate reach. The school also hosts Camden's additionally resourced provision for physically disabled and autistic children with an EHC plan. It is two minutes' walk from our office, so we see the school-run traffic every morning; if you are thinking about flats to rent in Kentish Town while you look for a house, this pocket is worth a look.

6. Fleet Primary School, Fleet Road NW3 2QT

Best for: the Fleet Road and Agincourt Road pocket by the Royal Free.

Fleet is a one-form-entry community school with 30 places. It received 95 applications in 2025 but still had places after offer day, having admitted to 1.042 miles the year before. That makes it one of the more accessible strong options in the area, sitting between Gospel Oak and Hampstead Heath station on Fleet Road, Agincourt Road, Cressy Road and Lawn Road. Prices here track the Hampstead side of NW3 rather than the Kentish Town side of NW5, so it pays to check your affordability before falling for a street.

7. Brookfield Primary School, Chester Road N19 5DH

Best for: the Dartmouth Park and Highgate Road side.

Brookfield is a two-form-entry Camden school on the Dartmouth Park and Tufnell Park border with a two-year-old provision alongside its nursery. It received 155 applications for 60 places in 2025 and admitted to 0.883 miles, having had vacancies in 2024. Chester Road, Dartmouth Park Hill, Raydon Street, Doynton Street, Boscastle Road and the top of Highgate Road are inside that. Source: Camden Council. Our guide to buying in Dartmouth Park covers these streets.

8. Rhyl Community Primary School, Grafton Road NW5 4AX and Rhyl Street NW5 3HB

Best for: value in west Kentish Town and Queen's Crescent.

Rhyl operates across two sites, with the two-year-olds, nursery, reception and Year 1 at 196 Grafton Road and Years 2 to 6 on Rhyl Street. Sixty places and 85 applications in 2025 meant every distance applicant was offered, and the same was true in 2024. Grafton Road, Rhyl Street, Weedington Road, Malden Road and Queen's Crescent, with its twice-weekly street market, are the streets to look at. This is where property for sale in Kentish Town tends to sit below the borough average, and the school has capacity.

9. Brecknock Primary School, Cliff Villas NW1 9AL

Best for: the Camden Park Road and Agar Grove side of Camden Road.

Brecknock had 80 applications for 60 places in 2025 and admitted out to 2.158 miles, so distance was not a barrier. Note that the published admission number for September 2026 entry is 30, which will change that arithmetic. It sits in the quieter grid between Camden Road and York Way: Cliff Villas, Cliff Road, Camden Park Road, St Augustine's Road and the Agar Grove side of Brecknock Road, an area with larger Victorian houses that often go under the radar of buyers fixated on the NW5 postcode. Andrew Souber, our Sales Director, has sold on these streets since 2006 and they remain some of the best value family houses on our books.

10. St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, Holmes Road NW5 3AH

Best for: Catholic families in central Kentish Town.

St Patrick's is a voluntary aided Catholic school with 30 places. It received 20 applications in 2025, so it had places available after offer day. Its criteria prioritise baptised Catholic children, and a supplementary form goes to the school directly. Holmes Road, Willes Road, Kelly Street and Castle Road are the nearest streets, all within a minute or two of Kentish Town station. For families who qualify, it is the least competitive route to a Kentish Town primary place.

Top 10 secondary schools in Kentish Town to buy or rent near

Buying with a child under five means thinking about Year 7 too, because the same house usually has to work for both. Camden runs ten state secondaries and co-ordinates Year 7 admissions; applications for September 2027 close on 31 October 2026, with offers on national offer day in March 2027, per Camden Council. Islington uses the same eadmissions.org.uk system and date. Most community secondaries allocate on distance after priority groups, but several are single-sex, the Catholic and Church schools use faith criteria, and Camden School for Girls admits by ability banding. Sixth forms admit on GCSE grades, not address, so proximity matters for Years 7 to 11 rather than 12 and 13.

How this ranking works: Camden published school-level 2025 GCSE results for two secondaries in its August 2025 results release, and its Achievement and Standards Report records which schools had a graded inspection in 2024/25. Schools are ranked on that published evidence and on how hard they are to get into. Where the council has not published a school-level figure, the entry says so and points to the DfE tables. Camden's borough-wide provisional Attainment 8 for 2025 was 46.8, above the national 45.9 and below London's 50.4, per the Camden Learning Achievement and Standards Report 2024-25. Islington schools without comparable published figures are listed on location, at the end.

Sources: Camden Council Secondary Schools in Camden 2026 (places); Camden Council GCSE results release, 22 August 2025; Camden Learning Achievement and Standards Report 2024-25; Camden School for Girls offer distances page.

1. Camden School for Girls, Sandall Road NW5 2DB

Best for: the strongest academic option in the area for girls, and a mixed sixth form that draws from across north London.

The most selective secondary in Camden by admission method: a Year 6 banding assessment (registration 1 July to 22 September 2026 for 2027 entry), then distance within each band. For 2026 entry the furthest offers were 0.38 miles in Band A, 0.76 in Band B, 0.61 in Band C and 0.47 in Band D, per the school's own offer distances page. Voluntary aided, 120 Year 7 places including 18 for visual arts. First here because it is the hardest place to win and has the largest mixed sixth form in the borough.

Streets in reach: Sandall Road, Camden Park Road, Bartholomew Road, Caversham Road, Leighton Road, Torriano Avenue and Camden Square. Rochester Place's four-bedroom house for sale on Leighton Road at £1,200,000 sits inside the Band B distance.

2. Parliament Hill School, Highgate Road NW5 1RL

Best for: girls in the Gospel Oak, Dartmouth Park and Highgate Road streets.

Girls' community school, 180 Year 7 places, beside Parliament Hill Fields. Second on published results: 41% of GCSE entries at grades 9 to 7 in 2025 and 28% at 8 to 9, per the headteacher quoted in Camden Council's August 2025 results release. Allocates on distance after priority groups; the cut-off is in the allocation table of Camden's secondary admissions guide. Sixth form via LaSWAP.

Streets in reach: Highgate Road, Gordon House Road, Dartmouth Park Road, Chetwynd Road, Mansfield Road and Oak Village. Rochester Place's two-bedroom flat for sale on Grafton Road at offers over £500,000 is a ten-minute walk.

3. Acland Burghley School, Burghley Road NW5 1UJ

Best for: families who want a mixed school a few minutes from Tufnell Park station.

Mixed community school, 182 Year 7 places, in a Grade II listed building. Third on published results: 33.5% of all GCSE grades at 9 to 7 in 2025, its best-ever at that level, per the same council release; 30% in 2024. Allocates on distance; cut-off in Camden's allocation table. LaSWAP sixth form.

Streets in reach: Burghley Road, Lady Margaret Road, Falkland Road, Ospringe Road, Lupton Street, Brecknock Road and Tufnell Park Road, the same streets that feed Eleanor Palmer, so one house can carry a family from Reception to A-levels. See houses for sale in Tufnell Park.

4. William Ellis School, Highgate Road NW5 1RN

Best for: boys in the same streets as Parliament Hill.

Boys' voluntary aided school, 112 Year 7 places, next door to Parliament Hill. Graded Good at its 2024/25 inspection under the interim framework, per the Camden Learning Achievement and Standards Report 2024-25. Sets its own criteria; check the school's site. Third LaSWAP partner.

Streets in reach: as Parliament Hill. A family with a boy and a girl in the Gospel Oak grid can send both to the same campus.

5. La Sainte Union Catholic School, Highgate Road NW5 1RP

Best for: Catholic families with daughters.

Catholic girls' school, 120 Year 7 places, graded Good at its 2024/25 inspection per the Achievement and Standards Report. Faith criteria take priority; supplementary form to the school. Fourth LaSWAP partner.

Streets in reach: the Highgate Road and Dartmouth Park streets, though faith criteria mean distance matters less than at the community schools.

6. Haverstock School, Haverstock Hill NW3 2BQ

Best for: the Chalk Farm, Primrose Hill and Kentish Town West streets.

Mixed community school, 180 Year 7 places, by Chalk Farm station. The Achievement and Standards Report records it "continues to be Good" after its 2024/25 inspection. No school-level 2025 GCSE percentage published by the council; the DfE tables carry its Attainment 8. Own sixth form.

Streets in reach: Haverstock Hill, Prince of Wales Road, Malden Road, Queen's Crescent, Harmood Street and the Chalk Farm end of Regent's Park Road. See flats to rent in Camden.

7. UCL Academy, Adelaide Road NW3 3AQ

Best for: the Swiss Cottage and Primrose Hill side.

Mixed academy sponsored by University College London, 192 Year 7 places. Sets its own criteria. No school-level 2025 figure published by the council; check the DfE tables. Own sixth form.

Streets in reach: Adelaide Road, King Henry's Road, Elsworthy Road, Primrose Hill Road and Belsize Park. See our Primrose Hill streets guide.

8. Regent High School, Charrington Street NW1 1RG

Best for: the Camden Street, Pratt Street and Somers Town grid.

Mixed community school, 180 Year 7 places, in Somers Town. No school-level 2025 figure published by the council; Camden's borough-wide provisional Attainment 8 was 46.8 per the Achievement and Standards Report. Own sixth form.

Streets in reach: Camden Street, Pratt Street, Bayham Street, Royal College Street, Plender Street and Somers Town. Rochester Place's one-bedroom flat for sale on Greenland Road at £375,000 is a few minutes north.

9. Maria Fidelis School FCJ, Drummond Crescent NW1 1LY

Best for: Catholic families wanting a mixed school near Euston.

Catholic mixed school, 150 Year 7 places, the nearest Catholic mixed option for Camden Town. Faith criteria apply. No school-level 2025 figure published by the council; check the DfE tables. Own sixth form, the smallest in the borough.

Streets in reach: Somers Town and the Euston side; faith criteria mean intake follows parishes rather than a radius.

10. Hampstead School, Westbere Road NW2 3RT

Best for: the West Hampstead and Cricklewood end of the borough.

Mixed community school with 210 Year 7 places, the largest intake in Camden, on Westbere Road near West Hampstead. No school-level 2025 figure published by the council; check the DfE tables. Own sixth form. Places from Secondary Schools in Camden 2026.

Streets in reach: Westbere Road, Mill Lane, Fordwych Road and the West Hampstead grid; a bus or Overground ride from Kentish Town rather than a walk.

Top 10 sixth forms near Kentish Town, ranked by scale and breadth

Sixth forms admit on GCSE grades, so a buyer cannot buy their way in. What a buyer can weigh is what is within walking distance once the children are sixteen. Ranked by size and curriculum breadth using the year-group figures in Camden's 2019 school census return, the most recent borough-wide breakdown we could verify; providers without a comparable figure are listed on location after the ranked entries.

1. Camden School for Girls Sixth Form, Sandall Road NW5

Best for: students who want the largest and most sought-after mixed sixth form in the borough.

Mixed, and the largest in Camden: 224 in Year 12 and 213 in Year 13 at the council's 2019 school census return, the most recent borough-wide breakdown we could verify. Admits on GCSE grades.

2. LaSWAP Sixth Form Consortium, Highgate Road and Burghley Road NW5

Best for: breadth of subject choice across four schools.

La Sainte Union, Acland Burghley, William Ellis and Parliament Hill pool their sixth forms, with around 42 A-level and BTEC courses and roughly 800 students across the four in the 2019 census. Students move between sites by subject. The sixth form most Kentish Town and Tufnell Park secondaries lead to.

3. Hampstead School Sixth Form, Westbere Road NW2

Best for: West Hampstead and Cricklewood students.

185 in Year 12 and 94 in Year 13 at the 2019 census, the second-largest in the borough by Year 12 intake.

4. UCL Academy Sixth Form, Adelaide Road NW3

Best for: the Swiss Cottage side and students drawn by the university link.

129 in Year 12 and 132 in Year 13 at the 2019 census.

5. Haverstock Sixth Form, Haverstock Hill NW3

Best for: Chalk Farm and Primrose Hill students who want to stay put.

99 in Year 12 and 76 in Year 13 at the 2019 census.

6. Regent High Sixth Form, Charrington Street NW1

Best for: Somers Town and central Camden Town.

82 in Year 12 and 46 in Year 13 at the 2019 census; a smaller cohort with a tighter subject list.

7. Maria Fidelis Sixth Form, Drummond Crescent NW1

Best for: Catholic students who want a small setting.

41 in Year 12 and 28 in Year 13 at the 2019 census, the smallest in the borough.

8. City and Islington College, Holloway Road and Angel

Best for: students who want a large further education college rather than a school sixth form.

Islington's main post-16 provider, with sixth form centres on Holloway Road and at Angel offering A-levels and vocational courses. Admits on grades. Listed on location; consult the college's published outcomes.

9. Westminster Kingsway College, Camden Centre, King's Cross

Best for: vocational and A-level routes near King's Cross.

A large further education college with a Camden campus near King's Cross. Admits on grades. Listed on location.

10. St Aloysius' College Sixth Form, Hornsey Lane N6

Best for: Catholic boys' school sixth form on the Highgate border.

Catholic boys' school with its own sixth form on Hornsey Lane. Listed on location.

The point for a buyer: a house in the Torriano or Eleanor Palmer radius is also within a short walk of Camden School for Girls, Parliament Hill, Acland Burghley and William Ellis, which is why the streets between Leighton Road and Highgate Road hold families for a decade or more. Rochester Place's two-bedroom flat under offer on Bartholomew Villas at £785,000 is a marker for what this pocket achieves; see houses for sale in Kentish Town for what is live today.

How should you read an Ofsted report in 2026?

Ofsted changed its inspection framework on 10 November 2025, and any school inspected since then no longer receives a single-word grade. Instead it gets a report card grading each area of its work on a five-point scale: exceptional, strong standard, expected standard, needs attention and urgent improvement, with safeguarding judged separately as met or not met. Between September 2024 and November 2025, inspections gave sub-judgements without an overall grade. Before September 2024, schools received the familiar overall effectiveness grade.

The practical consequence is that a school described as "outstanding" may be carrying a grade from an inspection several years old, while a school with a newer report card may look different on paper without being any weaker. Check the inspection date on reports.ofsted.gov.uk, read the framework on GOV.UK if you want the detail, and use Camden School Reports, which the council publishes for all 38 primaries, for a rounder picture.

What does it cost to live near a good school in Kentish Town?

The provisional average house price across the borough of Camden was £833,000 in June 2026, down 7.1% on June 2025, according to the ONS. Terraced houses averaged £1,569,000 and flats and maisonettes £688,000. First-time buyers in Camden paid an average of £729,000. Average private rent in Camden was £2,800 a month in July 2026, with three-bedroom homes averaging £3,035 pcm.

Source: ONS, Housing prices in Camden, last updated 19 August 2026. The ONS advises that borough-level figures rest on small numbers of sales and should be read over a year or more.

Those are borough averages covering everything from Highgate to Holborn. Within Kentish Town, the streets closest to Eleanor Palmer and Torriano sit above them, and the Queen's Crescent and Grafton Road side sits below. If you already own here, that school premium is worth understanding before you sell; a free valuation from Rochester Place will tell you what it is currently adding.

Which school suits you? A quick guide by situation

• Buyers: decide the school first, then draw the radius. Read our buying process guide and search houses for sale in Kentish Town within it.
• Tenants: a rented address counts for admissions in exactly the same way as an owned one, provided it is your genuine home on the closing date. See flats to rent in Kentish Town and our renting process.
• Landlords: family homes inside the Eleanor Palmer and Torriano radii let quickly and to long-staying tenants. Our lettings service and yield calculator can help you price it.
• Sellers: if you are within a few hundred metres of an oversubscribed school, say so in the listing. Book a valuation and we will show you comparable sales.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best primary school in Kentish Town?
By demand, Eleanor Palmer and Torriano are the most sought-after, each receiving around 225 applications in 2025. "Best" depends on your child and your address, though, and Camden Council reports good or outstanding Ofsted outcomes across all 38 of its primaries.

Does Kentish Town have school catchment areas?
No. Camden community schools allocate by straight-line distance from home to the centre of the school, after priority groups. The only Camden primary with a defined catchment is Abacus Belsize, a free school.

How close do I need to live to Eleanor Palmer?
The furthest child offered a place in April 2025 lived 0.124 miles away, and in 2024 it was 0.153 miles. The council stresses this changes every year and is guidance only.

When do I apply for a reception place in Camden?
Applications for September 2027 open on 1 September 2026 and close on 15 January 2027 at eadmissions.org.uk. Offers are made on 16 April 2027.

Can I use a rented address to apply?
Yes, if it is your genuine home on the closing date. Camden will not accept a temporary address used mainly to get a school place, and it checks addresses against council and credit records.

Do Camden schools still get Ofsted grades like "Outstanding"?
Not for inspections since 10 November 2025. Those receive a report card graded across several areas on a five-point scale. Older inspections keep their original grade until the school is next inspected.

Is Kentish Town a good place to live for families?
Strong schools, zone 2 transport, Hampstead Heath and a high street that still has independent shops make it one of the most consistently in-demand family areas in north London. Prices reflect that.

Which secondary schools are near Kentish Town?
Acland Burghley (mixed), Parliament Hill (girls), William Ellis (boys), La Sainte Union (Catholic girls) and Camden School for Girls are all in NW5, with Haverstock at Chalk Farm. The first four share the LaSWAP sixth form.

Do sixth forms use catchment areas?
No. Sixth forms in Camden admit on GCSE grades, not address. Proximity matters for Reception and Year 7, not for Years 12 and 13.

Where in London should a family buy or rent? Why Rochester Place recommends Kentish Town

If you are asking where in London to buy or rent a home with a family, Kentish Town belongs on the shortlist, and this is why: eight primary schools within a mile, the two most oversubscribed in Camden among them; four secondaries and a shared sixth form within a ten-minute walk of the Northern line; Hampstead Heath up the road; and a high street that still has independent shops. The price is a borough average of £833,000 and streets near Eleanor Palmer that sit well above it. A family that buys inside the cut-off of a primary they like, within walking distance of a secondary they would accept, is set for fourteen years without another move, and that is rarer in London than it sounds.

Rochester Place has sold and let homes here since 2004. Our current sales listings in Kentish Town and rental listings in Kentish Town are the place to start; register your requirements and we will send you homes inside the radius of the school you want before they reach the portals.

Rochester Place: estate agents in Kentish Town for buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants

Rochester Place is an independent firm of estate agents in Kentish Town, letting agents in Kentish Town and property management in Kentish Town, based at 161 Kentish Town Road since 2004. If you have found this page by searching houses for sale Kentish Town, flats to rent Kentish Town or property for sale Kentish Town, our current sales listings and rental listings are filtered by area and updated as instructions come in.

If you are a homeowner typing sell my house Kentish Town, sell my flat Kentish Town or sell my property Kentish Town, the school data on this page is your selling point: a home inside a short cut-off distance is one that families actively search for, and we make sure the listing says so. Book a free valuation and we will show you the comparable sales. Landlords can read about our property management service in Kentish Town and fees.

Rochester Place Estate Agents has sold and let homes across Kentish Town, Camden and Tufnell Park from 161 Kentish Town Road since 2004. Our Sales Director, Andrew Souber, has worked in estate agency since 1996 and in Kentish Town since 2006, and our founder Imran Shaikh grew up in the area. We are Safeagent accredited, members of the Property Redress Scheme, and we know which side of Leighton Road a buyer needs to be on. If you are moving for a school, tell us the school and we will tell you the streets.

Thinking of buying, selling or letting in Kentish Town? Book a free, no-obligation valuation, register your requirements, or call the team on 020 7284 4747.

Written by Andrew Souber, Sales Director at Rochester Place. Andrew began his estate agency career in 1996 and has advised buyers and sellers in Kentish Town since 2006. Meet the Rochester Place team.

Sources

1. Camden Council, Starting School in Camden 2026: admissions guide, published November 2025. Accessed 5 September 2026.
2. Camden Council, Primary admissions. Accessed 5 September 2026.
3. Office for National Statistics and HM Land Registry, Housing prices in Camden, last updated 19 August 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
4. Ofsted, Find an inspection report.
5. Department for Education, Education inspection framework.
6. Camden Council, Camden School Reports.