School admissions in Nr Colchester
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 3 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.
Nr Colchester in figures
For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 4 schools in Nr Colchester first 85 times for 76 places: 1.12 first choices per place, against 1.00 across the Suffolk authority's 248 schools. 2 of the 4 had more first choices than places. For 2026 entry, 2 schools here gave their last places on distance, from 2.15 miles (East Bergholt Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School) to 3.22 miles (Nayland 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
4 schools. 2 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nayland Primary School | 1.23 | 30 | 3.219 miles |
| East Bergholt Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School | 1.13 | 30 | 2.153 miles |
| Stratford St Mary Primary School | 0.92 | 12 | 4.564 miles |
| Stoke-by-Nayland Church of England Primary School | 0.75 | 4 | 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.