School admissions in Crook
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 4 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.
Crook in figures
For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 11 schools in Crook first 189 times for 190 places: 0.99 first choices per place, against 1.00 across the County Durham authority's 199 schools. 2 of the 11 had more first choices than places. For 2026 entry, 2 schools here gave their last places on distance, from 1.04 miles (Hartside Primary Academy) to 3.17 miles (Stanley (Crook) Primary School).
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
11 schools. 2 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stanley (Crook) Primary School | 1.16 | 19 | 3.169 miles |
| Hartside Primary Academy | 1.03 | 30 | 1.045 miles |
| Peases West Academy | 1.00 | 7 | 0.433 miles |
| St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, Crook | 1.00 | 9 | not published |
| St Stephen's Church of England Primary School | 1.00 | 21 | 0.628 miles |
| Sunnybrow Primary School | 1.00 | 14 | not published |
| Crook Primary School | 0.97 | 32 | not published |
| Howden-le-Wear Primary School | 0.93 | 15 | not published |
| Hunwick Primary School | 0.93 | 15 | not published |
| Willington Primary School | 0.93 | 15 | not published |
| Our Lady and St Thomas Catholic Primary School, Willington | 0.92 | 13 | 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.