School admissions in Harlow

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

30 schools. 6 received more first preferences than they had places.

School	First preferences per place	Places
Hare Street Community Primary School and NurseryHarlow	1.63	60
Pemberley AcademyHarlow	1.43	30
Newhall Primary AcademyHarlow	1.42	60
Kingsmoor AcademyHarlow	1.37	30
Matching Green Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary SchoolHarlow	1.21	14
Purford Green Primary SchoolHarlow	1.13	30
Church Langley Community Primary SchoolHarlow	0.98	60
William Martin Church of England Infant and Nursery SchoolHarlow	0.97	36
St Luke's Catholic AcademyHarlow	0.97	30
Milwards Primary School and NurseryHarlow	0.97	29
Pear Tree Mead AcademyHarlow	0.96	45
Latton Green Primary AcademyHarlow	0.95	21
Cooks Spinney Primary Academy and NurseryHarlow	0.93	59
Longwood Primary AcademyHarlow	0.93	58
Katherines Primary Academy and NurseryHarlow	0.93	28
St James Church of England Primary SchoolHarlow	0.90	21
Henry Moore Primary SchoolHarlow	0.90	82
Jerounds Primary AcademyHarlow	0.90	41
Holy Cross Catholic Primary School, HarlowHarlow	0.90	50
The Downs Primary School and NurseryHarlow	0.90	39
Water Lane Primary AcademyHarlow	0.87	23
Churchgate Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, HarlowHarlow	0.87	30
St Alban's Catholic AcademyHarlow	0.87	30
Abbotsweld Primary AcademyHarlow	0.86	37
Roydon Primary AcademyHarlow	0.86	29
Tany's Dell Primary School and NurseryHarlow	0.86	50
Potter Street AcademyHarlow	0.86	21
Freshwaters Primary AcademyHarlow	0.84	57
Harlowbury Primary SchoolHarlow	0.73	30
Little Parndon Primary AcademyHarlow	0.73	48

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

6 schools. 2 received more first preferences than they had places.

School	First preferences per place	Places
St Mark's West Essex Catholic SchoolHarlow	1.09	180
Passmores AcademyHarlow	1.03	229
Sir Frederick Gibberd CollegeHarlow	0.89	138
Mark Hall AcademyHarlow	0.86	155
Stewards Academy - Science Specialist, HarlowHarlow	0.83	171
Burnt Mill AcademyHarlow	0.83	209