School admissions in Carlisle

How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. None of these schools has a published admissions cutoff distance. 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.

Carlisle in figures

For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 42 schools in Carlisle first 966 times for 970 places: 1.00 first choices per place. 4 of the 42 had more first choices than places.

For Year 7 places in September 2026, families named the 5 schools in Carlisle first 919 times for 903 places: 1.02 first choices per place. 4 of the 5 had more first choices than places.

Totals for the schools listed on this page. Applications and offers on national offer day, DfE; last-offer distances as the council published them.

Reception places, September 2026

42 schools. 4 received more first preferences than they had places.

School	First preferences per place	Places
Blackford CofE Primary SchoolCarlisle	1.25	8
Belle Vue Primary SchoolCarlisle	1.20	59
Irthington Village SchoolCarlisle	1.12	8
Kingmoor Nursery and Infant SchoolCarlisle	1.11	88
Armathwaite SchoolCarlisle	1.00	6
Bewcastle SchoolCarlisle	1.00	2
Brook Street Primary SchoolCarlisle	1.00	22
Burgh by Sands SchoolCarlisle	1.00	9
Crosby-on-Eden CofE SchoolCarlisle	1.00	11
Cummersdale SchoolCarlisle	1.00	15
Cumwhinton SchoolCarlisle	1.00	28
Great Corby School and NurseryCarlisle	1.00	8
Inglewood Infant SchoolCarlisle	1.00	47
Ivegill CofE SchoolCarlisle	1.00	6
Newtown Primary SchoolCarlisle	1.00	15
Petteril Bank SchoolCarlisle	1.00	15
Raughton Head CofE School & NurseryCarlisle	1.00	9
Rockcliffe CofE SchoolCarlisle	1.00	7
Shankhill CofE Primary SchoolCARLISLE	1.00	7
St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, CarlisleCarlisle	1.00	23
St Margaret Mary Catholic Primary School, CarlisleCarlisle	1.00	21
St Michael's CofE Primary SchoolCarlisle	1.00	25
Stoneraise SchoolCarlisle	1.00	24
The Bishop Harvey Goodwin School (Church of England Voluntary Aided)Carlisle	1.00	14
Thursby Primary SchoolCarlisle	1.00	12
Upperby Primary SchoolCarlisle	1.00	46
Warwick Bridge Primary SchoolCarlisle	1.00	28
Wreay Church of England Primary SchoolCarlisle	1.00	7
Robert Ferguson Primary SchoolCarlisle	0.98	51
Pennine Way Primary SchoolCarlisle	0.98	50
Norman Street Primary SchoolCarlisle	0.97	29
Newlaithes Infant SchoolCarlisle	0.94	48
Stanwix SchoolCarlisle	0.94	32
Caldew Lea SchoolCarlisle	0.93	29
Yewdale SchoolCarlisle	0.93	29
Scotby CofE Primary SchoolCarlisle	0.93	28
St Bede's Catholic Primary SchoolCarlisle	0.91	23
Longtown Primary SchoolCarlisle	0.88	34
Great Orton Primary SchoolCarlisle	0.88	8
High Hesket CofE SchoolCarlisle	0.83	12
Kirkbampton CofE SchoolCarlisle	0.80	5
Houghton CofE SchoolCarlisle	0.77	22

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. 4 received more first preferences than they had places.

School	First preferences per place	Places
Richard Rose Central AcademyCarlisle	1.13	201
St John Henry Newman Catholic SchoolCarlisle	1.11	114
Caldew SchoolCarlisle	1.10	164
Richard Rose Morton AcademyCarlisle	1.06	171
Trinity SchoolCarlisle	0.81	253