School admissions in Newton Aycliffe
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 6 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.
Newton Aycliffe in figures
For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 10 schools in Newton Aycliffe first 282 times for 281 places: 1.00 first choices per place. 2 of the 10 had more first choices than places. For 2026 entry, 3 schools here gave their last places on distance, from 1.05 miles (Byerley Park Primary School) to 4.32 miles (Vane Road 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
10 schools. 2 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Byerley Park Primary School | 1.31 | 29 | 1.048 miles |
| Aycliffe Village Primary and Nursery School | 1.17 | 30 | 2.72 miles |
| St Francis Horndale CofE Primary School | 1.00 | 8 | not published |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School | 1.00 | 20 | not published |
| St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe | 1.00 | 12 | not published |
| Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School | 0.96 | 27 | not published |
| Woodham Burn Community Primary School and Nursery | 0.95 | 21 | not published |
| Heighington Church of England Primary School | 0.93 | 30 | 2.588 miles |
| Vane Road Primary School | 0.93 | 60 | 4.318 miles |
| Sugar Hill Primary School | 0.89 | 44 | 1.387 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.