diff --git a/e2e/tests/journeys.spec.ts b/e2e/tests/journeys.spec.ts
index 966f2ab..e006c5d 100644
--- a/e2e/tests/journeys.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/tests/journeys.spec.ts
@@ -1304,6 +1304,52 @@ test('with the distance feature off, the section is absent rather than empty', a
     .toHaveCount(0);
 });
 
+/**
+ * A secondary school carrying an EES admissions row, which is what makes its
+ * Admissions section render while the distance feature is dark.
+ */
+async function secondarySchoolWithAdmissions(page: Page) {
+  const list = await page.request.get('/api/schools?phase=secondary&page_size=40');
+  if (!list.ok()) return null;
+  const body = await list.json();
+  for (const s of (body?.schools ?? []).slice(0, 25)) {
+    const res = await page.request.get(`/api/schools/${s.urn}`);
+    if (!res.ok()) continue;
+    const detail = await res.json();
+    if (detail?.admissions == null) continue;
+    return { urn: s.urn as number };
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+test('with the distance feature off, a secondary page makes no claim about publication', async ({ page }) => {
+  /*
+   * Shipping dark must not put words in the council's mouth. The secondary
+   * template is the only one that words the absence, and "X has not published
+   * a cut-off distance for this school" is false wherever X does publish and
+   * we are simply withholding it.
+   *
+   * This is why the API omits the key rather than sending null: absent means
+   * "cut-offs are not published at all", null means "this school has none".
+   * Only the second is a fact about the school, and only the second is sayable.
+   */
+  test.skip(await distanceFeatureIsOn(page),
+    'the admission_distance flag is on in this environment');
+
+  const found = await secondarySchoolWithAdmissions(page);
+  test.skip(found === null, 'no secondary school in the sample has an admissions row');
+
+  await page.goto(`/school/${found!.urn}`);
+  await expect(page.locator('h1').first()).toBeVisible({ timeout: 15_000 });
+
+  // The Admissions section is still there — this is not a test that the whole
+  // section vanished, which would pass for the wrong reason.
+  await expect(page.locator('#admissions')).toHaveCount(1);
+
+  await expect(page.getByText(/has not published a cut-off distance/)).toHaveCount(0);
+  await expect(page.getByText(/Contact the admissions authority/)).toHaveCount(0);
+});
+
 test('/api/flags is not reachable from the public internet', async ({ page }) => {
   // It names every unreleased feature and whether it is on. Next reads it
   // server-side over the Docker network; the public proxy must deny it.
diff --git a/nextjs-app/__tests__/components/lastDistanceOffered.test.tsx b/nextjs-app/__tests__/components/lastDistanceOffered.test.tsx
index 9f16df5..3f9efa1 100644
--- a/nextjs-app/__tests__/components/lastDistanceOffered.test.tsx
+++ b/nextjs-app/__tests__/components/lastDistanceOffered.test.tsx
@@ -98,6 +98,17 @@ describe('secondary detail page', () => {
 
     expect(screen.getByText(/has not published a cut-off distance/)).toBeInTheDocument();
   });
+
+  it('makes no claim about publication when the feature is switched off', () => {
+    // Absent, not null. The API omits the key entirely while the
+    // admission_distance flag is off, and "Islington has not published a
+    // cut-off distance" is then a statement about us, not about Islington —
+    // false wherever the authority does publish one.
+    renderSecondarySchoolDetail({ ...secondaryFixture, admissionDistance: undefined });
+
+    expect(screen.queryByText(/has not published a cut-off distance/)).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.queryByText(/Contact the admissions authority/)).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
 });
 
 // ── The Distance section ───────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/nextjs-app/app/school/[slug]/page.tsx b/nextjs-app/app/school/[slug]/page.tsx
index 4e9f6aa..bef695a 100644
--- a/nextjs-app/app/school/[slug]/page.tsx
+++ b/nextjs-app/app/school/[slug]/page.tsx
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ export default async function SchoolPage({ params }: SchoolPageProps) {
             census={census ?? null}
             admissions={admissions ?? null}
             admissionsHistory={admissions_history ?? []}
-            admissionDistance={admission_distance ?? null}
+            admissionDistance={admission_distance}
             deprivation={deprivation ?? null}
             finance={finance ?? null}
             nationalAvg={nationalAvg}
diff --git a/nextjs-app/components/school/DistanceSection.tsx b/nextjs-app/components/school/DistanceSection.tsx
index 8990960..45651b5 100644
--- a/nextjs-app/components/school/DistanceSection.tsx
+++ b/nextjs-app/components/school/DistanceSection.tsx
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ export function DistanceSection({
   admissionDistance,
   schoolInfo,
 }: {
-  admissionDistance: SchoolAdmissionDistance | null;
+  admissionDistance: SchoolAdmissionDistance | null | undefined;
   schoolInfo: School;
 }) {
   // Without a figure there is nothing to compare against, and without
diff --git a/nextjs-app/components/school/SecondaryAdmissionsSection.tsx b/nextjs-app/components/school/SecondaryAdmissionsSection.tsx
index 49c8970..63471dc 100644
--- a/nextjs-app/components/school/SecondaryAdmissionsSection.tsx
+++ b/nextjs-app/components/school/SecondaryAdmissionsSection.tsx
@@ -21,11 +21,17 @@ export function SecondaryAdmissionsSection({
      published cut-off and no EES admissions row. */
   admissions: SchoolAdmissions | null;
   admissionsHistory: SchoolAdmissions[];
-  admissionDistance: SchoolAdmissionDistance | null;
+  admissionDistance: SchoolAdmissionDistance | null | undefined;
   schoolInfo: School;
   hasSixthForm: boolean;
 }) {
   const cutoff = describeCutoff(admissionDistance);
+  /* Absent means cut-offs are not being published at all; null means this
+     school has no published cut-off. Only the second is a fact about the
+     school, and only the second can be stated. Saying "X has not published a
+     cut-off" while the feature is dark describes us, and is false wherever the
+     authority does publish one. */
+  const featureOn = admissionDistance !== undefined;
   // Moved with this section from SecondarySchoolDetailView, its only consumer.
   const admissionsTag = (() => {
     const policy = schoolInfo.admissions_policy?.toLowerCase() ?? '';
@@ -102,7 +108,7 @@ export function SecondaryAdmissionsSection({
           {CUTOFF_NOTE} {CUTOFF_MEASUREMENT_NOTE}
           {cutoff.routeNote && <> {cutoff.routeNote}</>}
         </p>
-      ) : (
+      ) : featureOn ? (
         <p className={styles.sectionSubtitle} style={{ marginTop: '1rem' }}>
           {describeCutoffAbsence({
             localAuthority: schoolInfo.local_authority,
@@ -110,7 +116,7 @@ export function SecondaryAdmissionsSection({
             admissionsHistory,
           })}
         </p>
-      )}
+      ) : null}
 
       {hasSixthForm && (
         <div className={styles.sixthFormNote}>
diff --git a/nextjs-app/components/school/SecondarySchoolSections.tsx b/nextjs-app/components/school/SecondarySchoolSections.tsx
index 1ba3d7a..10bf3c8 100644
--- a/nextjs-app/components/school/SecondarySchoolSections.tsx
+++ b/nextjs-app/components/school/SecondarySchoolSections.tsx
@@ -36,7 +36,10 @@ export interface SecondarySchoolSectionsProps {
   /** Needed to tell a year with no published cut-off apart from a year the
    *  school simply was not oversubscribed. */
   admissionsHistory: SchoolAdmissions[];
-  admissionDistance: SchoolAdmissionDistance | null;
+  /** Absent — not null — while the admission_distance flag is off. The two
+   *  mean different things to the reader and must stay distinguishable:
+   *  see SecondaryAdmissionsSection, which words the absence. */
+  admissionDistance: SchoolAdmissionDistance | null | undefined;
   deprivation: SchoolDeprivation | null;
   finance: SchoolFinance | null;
   nationalAvg: NationalAverages | null;