School admissions in Nelson
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 12 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.
Nelson in figures
For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 16 schools in Nelson first 587 times for 568 places: 1.03 first choices per place, against 1.00 across the Lancashire authority's 472 schools. 8 of the 16 had more first choices than places. For 2026 entry, 5 schools here gave their last places on distance, from 0.20 miles (Marsden Community Primary School) to 3.60 miles (Blacko 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
16 schools. 8 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nelson St Philip's Church of England Primary School | 1.42 | 19 | not published |
| Barrowford St Thomas Church of England Primary School | 1.35 | 17 | not published |
| Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy | 1.33 | 15 | not published |
| Blacko Primary School | 1.29 | 14 | 3.6 miles |
| Marsden Community Primary School | 1.25 | 59 | 0.2 miles |
| Whitefield Infant School and Nursery | 1.14 | 83 | 0.5 miles |
| Pendle Primary Academy | 1.10 | 60 | 0.2 miles |
| Bradley Primary School | 1.07 | 58 | 0.3 miles |
| Nelson St Paul's Church of England Primary School | 0.93 | 57 | not published |
| Great Marsden St John's Primary School A Church of England Academy | 0.86 | 21 | not published |
| Barrowford School | 0.84 | 19 | not published |
| Holy Saviour Roman Catholic Primary School, Nelson | 0.83 | 23 | not published |
| Castercliff Primary School | 0.81 | 37 | not published |
| Roughlee Church of England Primary School | 0.80 | 5 | not published |
| St John Southworth RC Primary School, A Voluntary Academy | 0.80 | 30 | not published |
| Walverden Primary School | 0.75 | 51 | 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.