School admissions in Barnstaple

How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. Sorted by first preferences per place. We don't invent rankings: the order is arithmetic on a published figure, not a view about which school is better.

Reception places, September 2026

23 schools. 1 received more first preferences than they had places.

School	First preferences per place	Places	Cutoff distance
Newport Community School Primary AcademyBarnstaple	1.03	60	642.1 m (≈0.40 mi) 2020
Ashleigh CofE Primary SchoolBarnstaple	1.00	22	not published
Bratton Fleming Community Primary SchoolBarnstaple	1.00	11	not published
Brayford AcademyBarnstaple	1.00	3	not published
Eden Park AcademyBarnstaple	1.00	17	not published
Filleigh Community Primary SchoolBarnstaple	1.00	10	not published
Fremington Primary SchoolBarnstaple	1.00	29	not published
Goodleigh Church of England Primary SchoolBarnstaple	1.00	7	not published
Holywell Church of England SchoolBarnstaple	1.00	5	3788.7 m (≈2.35 mi) 2020
Kentisbury Primary SchoolBarnstaple	1.00	6	not published
Landkey Community Primary AcademyBarnstaple	1.00	19	not published
Orchard Vale Community SchoolBarnstaple	1.00	31	1190.4 m (≈0.74 mi) 2020
Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, BarnstapleBarnstaple	1.00	24	618.8 m (≈0.38 mi) 2020
Parracombe Church of England Primary SchoolBarnstaple	1.00	1	not published
Pilton Infants' AcademyBarnstaple	1.00	52	1386.9 m (≈0.86 mi) 2022
Roundswell Community Primary AcademyBarnstaple	1.00	43	2539 m (≈1.58 mi) 2021
Shirwell Community Primary SchoolBarnstaple	1.00	2	not published
Sticklepath Community Primary AcademyBarnstaple	1.00	38	3898.3 m (≈2.42 mi) 2020
Swimbridge Church of England Primary SchoolBarnstaple	1.00	14	not published
Yeo Valley Primary SchoolBarnstaple	1.00	20	not published
Bishops Tawton Primary SchoolBarnstaple	0.96	23	not published
Marwood SchoolBarnstaple	0.92	13	4590.4 m (≈2.85 mi) 2021
Horwood and Newton Tracey Community Primary SchoolBarnstaple	0.83	6	not published

First preferences per place is the number of families naming the school first, divided by its published admission number. Above 1.00 means more first choices than places. It is not a ranking and not a measure of quality: a popular school can be easy to get into and a quiet one hard, because places are allocated by each school's own criteria, siblings and faith and banding first, with distance often the last tie-breaker. Applications and offers on national offer day, DfE.