School admissions in Rayleigh
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 4 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.
Rayleigh in figures
For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 8 schools in Rayleigh first 375 times for 378 places: 0.99 first choices per place, against 1.00 across the Essex authority's 411 schools. 2 of the 8 had more first choices than places. For 2026 entry, 4 schools here gave their last places on distance, from 0.58 miles (Our Lady of Ransom Catholic Primary School) to 1.66 miles (Grove Wood 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
8 schools. 2 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Our Lady of Ransom Catholic Primary School | 1.22 | 59 | 0.576 miles |
| Grove Wood Primary School | 1.03 | 90 | 1.657 miles |
| Edward Francis Primary School | 0.98 | 60 | 1.244 miles |
| St Nicholas Church of England Primary School | 0.94 | 18 | 0.631 miles |
| Rayleigh Primary School | 0.92 | 52 | not published |
| Glebe Primary School | 0.91 | 46 | not published |
| Wyburns Primary School | 0.86 | 22 | not published |
| Down Hall Primary School | 0.81 | 31 | 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.