School admissions in Leigh-on-Sea
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 9 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.
Leigh-on-Sea in figures
For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 10 schools in Leigh-on-Sea first 629 times for 632 places: 1.00 first choices per place, against 0.99 across the Southend-on-Sea authority's 29 schools. 4 of the 10 had more first choices than places. For 2026 entry, 2 schools here gave their last places on distance, from 0.55 miles (Eastwood Primary School & Nursery) to 0.62 miles (Darlinghurst Academy).
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
10 schools. 4 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chalkwell Hall Infant School | 1.19 | 88 | 0.106 miles |
| West Leigh Infant School | 1.07 | 120 | 2.095 miles |
| Eastwood Primary School & Nursery | 1.07 | 57 | 0.548 miles |
| Darlinghurst Academy | 1.02 | 60 | 0.618 miles |
| Edwards Hall Primary School | 0.97 | 58 | 2.12 miles |
| Fairways Primary School | 0.95 | 42 | not published |
| Heycroft Primary School | 0.92 | 12 | not published |
| Leigh North Street Primary School | 0.91 | 66 | 1.007 miles |
| Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School | 0.88 | 43 | not published |
| Blenheim Primary School | 0.79 | 86 | 1.399 miles |
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.