School admissions in Dronfield
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.
Dronfield in figures
For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 9 schools in Dronfield first 217 times for 220 places: 0.99 first choices per place, against 1.00 across the Derbyshire authority's 290 schools. One of the 9 had more first choices than places. For 2026 entry, one school here gave its last places on distance: William Levick Primary School, to 1.20 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
9 schools. 1 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gorseybrigg Primary School and Nursery | 1.48 | 29 | not published |
| Lenthall Infant and Nursery School | 1.00 | 18 | not published |
| Holmesdale Infant School | 0.97 | 29 | not published |
| Unstone St Mary's Nursery & Infant School | 0.94 | 17 | not published |
| Dronfield Infant School | 0.92 | 59 | not published |
| William Levick Primary School | 0.90 | 30 | 1.199 miles |
| Penny Acres Primary School | 0.86 | 7 | not published |
| St Andrew's CofE Methodist (Aided) Primary School | 0.86 | 21 | not published |
| Barlow CofE Primary School | 0.70 | 10 | 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.