School admissions in Chigwell
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 3 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.
Chigwell in figures
For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 5 schools in Chigwell first 173 times for 198 places: 0.87 first choices per place. One of the 5 had more first choices than places. For 2026 entry, one school here gave its last places on distance: Chigwell Primary Academy, to 1.63 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
5 schools. 1 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chigwell Primary Academy | 1.07 | 30 | 1.627 miles |
| Manford Primary School | 0.93 | 60 | 1.371 miles |
| Limes Farm Infant School and Nursery | 0.93 | 41 | not published |
| Coppice Primary School | 0.73 | 56 | 2.685 miles |
| Chigwell Row Infant School | 0.55 | 11 | 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.