School admissions in Burnley

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

33 schools. 8 received more first preferences than they had places.

School	First preferences per place	Places
Barden Primary SchoolBurnley	1.65	57
Wellfield Methodist and Anglican Church SchoolBurnley	1.60	30
Worsthorne Primary SchoolBurnley	1.41	29
Christ The King Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary AcademyBurnley	1.41	27
Hapton Church of England/Methodist Primary SchoolBurnley	1.11	18
Burnley Stoneyholme Community Primary SchoolBurnley	1.08	60
St John the Baptist Roman Catholic Primary School, PadihamBurnley	1.07	29
Rosewood Primary SchoolBurnley	1.02	59
Briercliffe Primary SchoolBurnley	1.00	32
Newchurch-In-Pendle St Mary's Church of England Primary SchoolBurnley	1.00	8
Read St John's CofE Primary SchoolBurnley	1.00	29
Simonstone St Peter's Church of England Primary SchoolBurnley	1.00	20
St Mary Magdalene Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary AcademyBurnley	0.97	30
St Augustine of Canterbury RC Primary School, A Voluntary AcademyBurnley	0.97	29
St Mary's RC Primary School, a Voluntary AcademyBurnley	0.95	22
Padiham Primary SchoolBurnley	0.92	38
Burnley Brunshaw Primary SchoolBurnley	0.91	45
Burnley St Stephen's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary SchoolBurnley	0.90	30
St James' Lanehead Church of England Primary SchoolBurnley	0.90	40
St John's CofE Primary School, ClivigerBurnley	0.90	30
Rosegrove Infant SchoolBurnley	0.89	35
Higham St John's Church of England Primary SchoolBurnley	0.88	16
Casterton Primary AcademyBurnley	0.87	39
Cherry Fold Community Primary SchoolBurnley	0.86	22
Heasandford Primary SchoolBurnley	0.86	87
Burnley Ightenhill Primary SchoolBurnley	0.83	41
Burnley Springfield Community Primary SchoolBurnley	0.83	23
Burnley Holy Trinity Church of England Primary SchoolBurnley	0.82	28
St John the Baptist RC Primary School, a Voluntary AcademyBurnley	0.79	29
Wheatley Lane Methodist Primary SchoolBurnley	0.76	29
Whittlefield Primary SchoolBurnley	0.75	24
Reedley Primary SchoolBurnley	0.72	53
Burnley St Peter's Church of England Primary SchoolBurnley	0.69	26

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.

Year 7 places, September 2026

5 schools. 2 received more first preferences than they had places.

School	First preferences per place	Places
Shuttleworth CollegeBurnley	1.13	192
Burnley High SchoolBurnley	1.06	119
Blessed Trinity Roman Catholic College, A Voluntary AcademyBurnley	1.00	248
Sir John Thursby Community CollegeBurnley	0.89	223
Unity CollegeBurnley	0.85	263