School admissions in Halstead
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 7 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.
Halstead in figures
For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 11 schools in Halstead first 257 times for 258 places: 1.00 first choices per place, against 1.00 across the Essex authority's 411 schools. 3 of the 11 had more first choices than places. For 2026 entry, 3 schools here gave their last places on distance, from 1.07 miles (St Andrew's Church of England Primary School, Halstead) to 3.81 miles (St John the Baptist Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Pebmarsh).
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. 3 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holy Trinity Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, Halstead | 1.55 | 29 | not published |
| St Peter's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, Sible Hedingham | 1.30 | 30 | not published |
| St Andrew's Church of England Primary School, Great Yeldham | 1.23 | 22 | not published |
| Ridgewell Church of England Primary School | 0.92 | 13 | not published |
| St Andrew's Church of England Primary School, Halstead | 0.87 | 30 | 1.073 miles |
| St John the Baptist Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Pebmarsh | 0.87 | 15 | 3.81 miles |
| de Vere Primary School | 0.87 | 30 | 3.76 miles |
| Richard de Clare Community Academy | 0.84 | 50 | not published |
| Gosfield Community Primary School | 0.78 | 18 | not published |
| St Giles' Church of England Primary School | 0.64 | 11 | not published |
| St Margaret's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Toppesfield | 0.60 | 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.