School admissions in Leighton Buzzard
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 17 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.
Leighton Buzzard in figures
For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 16 schools in Leighton Buzzard first 616 times for 635 places: 0.97 first choices per place. 5 of the 16 had more first choices than places. For 2026 entry, 6 schools here gave their last places on distance, from 0.50 miles (Dovery Academy) to 3.33 miles (St Michael's Church of England Combined 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
16 schools. 5 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dovery Academy | 1.83 | 29 | 801.28 m (≈0.50 mi) |
| Linslade Lower School | 1.60 | 30 | 627.06 m (≈0.39 mi) |
| Beaudesert Lower School | 1.32 | 56 | 984.86 m (≈0.61 mi) |
| Heathwood Lower School | 1.26 | 27 | 1144.27 m (≈0.71 mi) |
| Stanbridge Lower School | 1.08 | 24 | 4216.87 m (≈2.62 mi) |
| St Michael's Church of England Combined School | 1.00 | 30 | 3.328 miles |
| Brookmead School | 0.93 | 45 | not published |
| Pulford CofE VA Lower School | 0.93 | 45 | 798.39 m (≈0.50 mi) |
| The Rushmere Park Academy | 0.90 | 29 | 1469.06 m (≈0.91 mi) |
| Hockliffe Lower School | 0.87 | 15 | 5002.79 m (≈3.11 mi) |
| Greenleas School | 0.86 | 43 | not published |
| The Mary Bassett Lower School | 0.85 | 59 | 2113.35 m (≈1.31 mi) |
| Southcott Lower School | 0.77 | 56 | 3244.4 m (≈2.02 mi) |
| Clipstone Brook Lower School | 0.75 | 60 | 1747.67 m (≈1.09 mi) |
| Leedon Lower School | 0.63 | 60 | not published |
| St Leonards CE Academy | 0.56 | 27 | 4697.8 m (≈2.92 mi) |
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.