School admissions in Chorley

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

40 schools. 7 received more first preferences than they had places.

School	First preferences per place	Places
Euxton Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary SchoolChorley	1.30	30
Chorley St James' Church of England Primary SchoolChorley	1.21	29
Euxton Primrose Hill Primary SchoolChorley	1.20	59
Brindle St James' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary SchoolChorley	1.20	10
Clayton-le-Woods Manor Road Primary SchoolChorley	1.14	36
St George's Church of England Primary School, ChorleyChorley	1.07	45
Heskin Pemberton's Church of England VA Primary SchoolChorley	1.06	18
Abbey Village Primary SchoolChorley	1.00	13
Brinscall St John's CofE and Methodist Primary SchoolChorley	1.00	19
Coppull Parish Church of England Primary SchoolChorley	1.00	20
Coppull Primary School and NurseryChorley	1.00	26
Duke Street Primary SchoolChorley	1.00	39
Gillibrand Primary SchoolChorley	1.00	24
St Bede's Catholic Primary SchoolChorley	1.00	27
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, AndertonChorley	1.00	29
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, ChorleyChorley	1.00	30
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, WithnellChorley	1.00	17
St Mary's Catholic Primary School and Nursery, ChorleyChorley	1.00	19
St Oswald's Catholic Primary School, CoppullChorley	1.00	16
St. Mary's Catholic Primary School EuxtonChorley	1.00	30
St Peter's CofE Primary School ChorleyChorley	0.97	35
Westwood Primary SchoolChorley	0.96	28
Balshaw Lane Community Primary SchoolChorley	0.96	53
Clayton-le-Woods Church of England Primary SchoolChorley	0.96	24
St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, ChorleyChorley	0.96	24
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, ChorleyChorley	0.95	22
Adlington Primary SchoolChorley	0.95	21
Adlington St Paul's Church of England Primary SchoolChorley	0.95	19
Chorley All Saints Church of England Primary School and Nursery UnitChorley	0.95	19
Chorley, the Parish of St Laurence Church of England Primary SchoolChorley	0.93	28
Eccleston Primary SchoolChorley	0.93	28
Coppull St John's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary SchoolChorley	0.92	13
Christ Church Charnock Richard CofE Primary SchoolChorley	0.92	24
Eccleston St Mary's Church of England Primary SchoolChorley	0.92	12
Highfield Community Primary SchoolChorley	0.92	24
Whittle-le-Woods Church of England Primary SchoolCHORLEY	0.91	35
Buckshaw Primary SchoolChorley	0.89	19
Trinity Church of England/Methodist Primary School, Buckshaw VillageChorley	0.89	47
St Chad's Catholic Primary SchoolChorley	0.88	17
Withnell Fold Primary SchoolChorley	0.80	5

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. 3 received more first preferences than they had places.

School	First preferences per place	Places
St Michael's Church of England High SchoolChorley	1.42	219
Holy Cross Catholic High SchoolChorley	1.14	189
Parklands High SchoolChorley	1.11	215
Albany AcademyChorley	0.91	142
Southlands High SchoolChorley	0.59	123