School admissions in Caterham
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 8 of these schools also have 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.
Caterham in figures
For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 7 schools in Caterham first 259 times for 274 places: 0.95 first choices per place, against 0.99 across the Surrey authority's 247 schools. 2 of the 7 had more first choices than places. For 2026 entry, one school here gave its last places on distance: Audley Primary School, to 0.55 miles.
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
7 schools. 2 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audley Primary School | 1.47 | 30 | 0.889 km (≈0.55 mi) |
| Hillcroft Primary School & Nursery | 1.13 | 60 | not published |
| Woodlea Primary School | 1.00 | 30 | not published |
| St John's CofE Aided Primary School | 0.89 | 56 | 2.815 km (≈1.75 mi) |
| St Peter and St Paul Church Primary School | 0.77 | 30 | 2.24 km (≈1.39 mi) |
| St Francis Catholic Primary School | 0.74 | 46 | not published |
| Marden Lodge Primary School and Nursery | 0.45 | 22 | 1.195 km (≈0.74 mi) |
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.