Titchfield, St Columba and Orchard Lea catchments move to Fareham Academy or Cams Hill for Year 7 in 2027. Apply by midnight on 31 October.

Families applying for secondary school this autumn are the first year group affected by The Henry Cort Community College’s move to North Whiteley. The school leaves Hillson Drive for a new building on Dapperling Road in September 2027. Year 7 applications for that month close at midnight on 31 October 2026.

Hampshire County Council’s admissions page tells parents to check the new catchment maps before they apply. Children at three Fareham-side primary schools lose Henry Cort as their catchment secondary.

On Friday the county also published a separate proposal. It would add a specialist base for up to 15 pupils with autism inside the new building. Anyone can comment until 23 October.

Which catchment your child is now in

From September 2027 the county works it out from your catchment primary school. Its online catchment finder will keep showing the old arrangement until 31 August 2027, so use this instead.

Your catchment primary school Secondary catchment school from September 2027
Cornerstone CE Primary School The Henry Cort Community College (no change)
Whiteley Primary School The Henry Cort Community College (no change)
Orchard Lea Junior School Cams Hill School
Titchfield Primary School Fareham Academy
St Columba CE Primary School Fareham Academy

That is from the county’s Henry Cort relocation and admissions page, which also links the new catchment maps for Henry Cort, Cams Hill and Fareham Academy.

Being in a catchment does not guarantee a place. When a school has more applicants than places, the county ranks them by the published criteria.

Where the school is going

Henry Cort is now on Hillson Drive, PO15 6PH, in Fareham’s Fareham Park ward. The new site is on Dapperling Road in North Whiteley, about two and a half miles to the north-west in a straight line, on the other side of the M27. Whiteley is in Winchester City Council’s area, so the school leaves Fareham borough, though it stays a Hampshire County Council school.

The county’s public notice of 25 September says the college “will be located at Dapperling Road, North Whiteley, Hampshire and be known as Whiteley Secondary School” from September 2027.

The decision itself is 17 months old. The county’s Executive Lead Member for Children’s Services approved the relocation on 22 April 2025.

Why the county moved it

The decision report sets out the reasoning. North Whiteley is planned to add about 3,500 homes to the 2,000 of Whiteley’s first phase, and it needs a secondary school. That school is paid for entirely by developer contributions and Department for Education Basic Need grant.

  • The building opens with 900 places and is designed to expand by a further 300 to 1,200.
  • It opens with a planned 180 places per year group.
  • Whiteley and North Whiteley are currently in Henry Cort’s catchment.

The county’s forecasts showed that opening a new school in Whiteley while keeping Henry Cort at Hillson Drive would leave “a significant surplus of school places across Fareham”. The report says that would cut Henry Cort’s funding, which follows pupil numbers, and make it hard to keep staff and a full curriculum. So instead of a second school, Henry Cort moves into the new building.

The decision record lists two options the county considered and rejected:

  • a new six-form-entry academy in Whiteley, with Henry Cort staying at Hillson Drive on a smaller catchment
  • a new academy in Whiteley and Henry Cort closing, with its remaining catchment split between Fareham Academy and Cams Hill School

Most people who answered the consultation objected

The statutory consultation ran from 10 January to 14 February 2025.

Bar chart of responses to Hampshire County Council's 2025 consultation on relocating The Henry Cort Community College to North Whiteley: 104 objected, 28 supported and 8 were neutral, out of 140 responses.
Chart by Fareham News. Source: Hampshire County Council decision report, April 2025.
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Of 140 responses, 104 objected, 28 supported the move and 8 were neutral. The report lists the main themes:

  • longer journeys, and fewer chances to walk or cycle
  • the fear that Fareham schools would be overcrowded, and the loss of a local school for local children
  • disruption for pupils who move site mid-course, especially in Years 10 and 11
  • the need to plan for more housing in the area

The county’s answer on travel was that funded transport applies under its usual policy. That covers pupils with no safe walking route under three miles, or who live three miles or more away. The report gives the walking distance from the Hillson Drive site to Fareham Academy as 2.2 miles, and to Cams Hill School as 3.5 miles.

Pupils already at Henry Cort

The school’s pupils move with it. The admissions page says existing pupils “will continue their education at the relocated school site”.

The decision report says pupils in Years 8 to 11 in September 2027 transfer to the new building. Where they qualify under the county’s school transport policy, they get funded transport until they finish secondary school.

There is a three-year sibling concession. A child starting secondary school who lives in the part of Fareham leaving Henry Cort’s catchment keeps catchment-level sibling priority there if an older brother or sister is on roll. The sibling must have been on roll and living at the same address before the change. That runs up to and including admission in September 2030, the report says.

The autism base proposal

The public notice published on Friday is a separate step. The county proposes a specialist inclusion base for pupils with autism at the relocated school, from the 2027/28 academic year.

  • It would take up to 15 secondary-age pupils with autism, opening in phases.
  • The notice says Henry Cort has 834 pupils on roll against a capacity of 870.
  • Mainstream capacity would not change.
  • The space is already in the new school’s design, with separate areas and a secure outdoor space.
  • The capital cost is inside the overall budget for building the school.

The county’s reason is “an increasing number of children in the local area who are being diagnosed or on a pathway for a diagnosis of autism”. The base is meant to help them attend a mainstream school.

Comments or objections go to Helen Ley, SEN Partnership Development Manager, Children’s Services, Hampshire County Council, EII Court North, Winchester SO23 8UG, or by phone on 03707 795312. The deadline is 23 October 2026. The full proposal is available from the same address.

What it means for you

  • If your child starts secondary school in September 2027, apply by midnight on 31 October 2026. Offers go out on 1 March 2027.
  • If you are in the Titchfield Primary or St Columba catchment, your catchment secondary becomes Fareham Academy. If you are in the Orchard Lea Junior catchment, it becomes Cams Hill School.
  • You can still name Henry Cort as a preference. Its 2027/28 policy still gives out-of-catchment priority to children on the roll of all five of its current linked schools, including Orchard Lea, St Columba and Titchfield. That comes after catchment children and siblings.
  • If an older child is already at Henry Cort, check whether the sibling concession to 2030 covers you before you rank your preferences.
  • If your child has an EHCP, a school named in the plan must admit them. The autism base proposal is open for comment until 23 October.
  • If you want to see what the school admits, all three policies are published: Henry Cort 2027/28 (180 places), Fareham Academy 2027/28 (180 places plus 6 in its hearing impairment provision) and Cams Hill 2027/28.

Questions about Year 7 applications for the three schools go to the county’s admissions team, which is listed on the relocation page.

The county has not yet said what will happen to the Hillson Drive site. Its 2025 report said options would be “thoroughly evaluated” before any recommendation. We will report that when it comes.

More on the Welborne school plans: Welborne’s northern primary school approved. Local information: Fareham school term dates and Fareham October half term.

Sources