The major factor affecting children's access to public education, its quality as well as educational opportunities is the actual functioning of the school catchment system (Butler, Hamnett 2007). In countries where the recruitment of children to schools hinges on the catchment system, gaining insight into its functioning seems to be a key to understanding the spatial functioning of education and its socio-economic context. In the case of rural schools of great importance are especially the spatial characteristics of school catchments. The aim of the paper is to examine the impact of settlement structure and natural conditions on the characteristics and functioning of the school catchment areas of primary schools in Poland. The analysis is/was conducted with the use of quantitative methods (i.e. regression and cluster analyses). The research shows that the spatial structure of settlement system is still the major factor influencing the characteristics of primary school catchments and that it plays an important role in their functioning. Additionally, there seem to exist various spatial types (spatial clusters) of the spatial organisation of primary school catchments in rural areas in Poland.