Investigating the bulge in catchment area of �14m primary free school

The former Hampstead police station, poised to become Abacus Belsize's permanent home

Why did the catchment area of a north London free school, poised to move to a former police station bought for it by the government for £14.1 million, feature a curious bulge?

This was the question which drew me, one bright autumnal morning, to Belsize Park, on the fringes of Hampstead Heath, to investigate.

As Education Uncovered reported last month, Abacus Belsize primary school, which opened in 2013 and is currently housed in temporary premises two miles down the hill in King’s Cross, is hoping to move to the former Hampstead police station. 

A planning application for it to do so as a two-form entry institution, growing to 420 pupils, was blocked by Camden council two years ago. But plans are being re-submitted, this time for the school to operate as one-form entry. I questioned last month whether this would make it the most expensive free school in England,on a per-pupil basis.