School admissions in Knottingley
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 2 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.
Knottingley in figures
For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 7 schools in Knottingley first 179 times for 180 places: 0.99 first choices per place. One of the 7 had more first choices than places. For 2026 entry, 2 schools here gave their last places on distance, from 1.33 miles (St Botolphs CE Academy) to 1.86 miles (Fairburn Community 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
7 schools. 1 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairburn Community Primary School | 1.42 | 12 | 1.857 miles |
| England Lane Academy | 1.00 | 21 | not published |
| Simpson's Lane Academy | 1.00 | 41 | not published |
| St Botolphs CE Academy | 1.00 | 30 | 1.332 miles |
| The Vale Primary Academy | 0.96 | 27 | not published |
| Willow Green Academy | 0.93 | 27 | not published |
| Brotherton and Byram Community Primary Academy | 0.86 | 22 | 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.