School admissions in Hailsham
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 6 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.
Hailsham in figures
For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 8 schools in Hailsham first 320 times for 318 places: 1.01 first choices per place, against 1.00 across the East Sussex authority's 141 schools. 4 of the 8 had more first choices than places. For 2026 entry, one school here gave its last places on distance: Herstmonceux Church of England Primary School, to 3.90 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
8 schools. 4 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grovelands Community Primary School | 1.17 | 90 | not published |
| Hailsham Academy | 1.12 | 60 | not published |
| Hellingly Community Primary School | 1.10 | 30 | 7324 m (≈4.55 mi) |
| Thornton Grove Academy | 1.10 | 30 | not published |
| Park Mead Primary School | 0.90 | 10 | 3262 m (≈2.03 mi) |
| Herstmonceux Church of England Primary School | 0.87 | 30 | 6273 m (≈3.90 mi) |
| White House Academy | 0.72 | 29 | not published |
| Hawkes Farm Academy | 0.67 | 39 | 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.