School admissions in Birkenhead
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
14 schools. 3 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places |
|---|---|---|
| Birkenhead Christ Church CofE Primary School | 1.10 | 30 |
| Bidston Avenue Primary School | 1.08 | 60 |
| Co-op Academy Portland | 1.03 | 30 |
| St Werburgh's Catholic Primary School | 1.00 | 24 |
| Devonshire Park Primary School | 0.97 | 33 |
| The Priory Parish CofE Primary School | 0.97 | 29 |
| St Anne's Catholic Primary School | 0.91 | 23 |
| Well Lane Primary School | 0.90 | 21 |
| Our Lady and St Edward's Catholic Primary School | 0.90 | 41 |
| Bedford Drive Primary School | 0.90 | 40 |
| Woodlands Primary School | 0.89 | 36 |
| Holy Cross Catholic Primary School | 0.87 | 23 |
| Rock Ferry Primary School | 0.81 | 32 |
| Woodchurch Road Academy | 0.76 | 21 |
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.