School admissions in Malvern
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.
Malvern in figures
For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 14 schools in Malvern first 284 times for 293 places: 0.97 first choices per place. One of the 14 had more first choices than places. For 2026 entry, 3 schools here gave their last places on distance, from 2.04 miles (Malvern Wyche CofE Primary School) to 3.86 miles (Welland 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
14 schools. 1 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malvern Wyche CofE Primary School | 1.35 | 20 | 2.04 miles |
| Beacon View Primary School | 1.00 | 10 | not published |
| Colwall CofE Primary School and Nursery | 1.00 | 22 | not published |
| St James' CofE Primary School | 1.00 | 5 | not published |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Malvern | 1.00 | 14 | not published |
| Northleigh CofE Primary School | 0.97 | 30 | 2.084 miles |
| Malvern Parish CofE Primary School | 0.96 | 28 | not published |
| Somers Park Primary School | 0.96 | 52 | 1.958 miles |
| Leigh and Bransford Primary School | 0.93 | 27 | 1.665 miles |
| Great Malvern Primary School | 0.92 | 25 | 0.603 miles |
| Welland Primary School | 0.90 | 21 | 3.86 miles |
| Cradley CofE Primary School | 0.90 | 10 | not published |
| Madresfield CofE Primary School | 0.87 | 15 | 2.398 miles |
| Castlemorton Church of England Primary School | 0.79 | 14 | 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.