School admissions in Rugeley
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 13 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.
Rugeley in figures
For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 17 schools in Rugeley first 336 times for 338 places: 0.99 first choices per place, against 1.00 across the Staffordshire authority's 296 schools. 0 of the 17 had more first choices than places. For 2025 entry, 3 schools here gave their last places on distance, from 0.61 miles (Chancel Primary School) to 2.17 miles (Hayes Meadow 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
17 schools. 0 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chancel Primary School | 1.00 | 27 | 0.606 miles |
| Chase View Community Primary School | 1.00 | 24 | not published |
| Churchfield CofE Primary Academy | 1.00 | 19 | not published |
| Etching Hill CofE Primary Academy | 1.00 | 42 | 1.283 miles |
| Forest Hills Primary School | 1.00 | 10 | not published |
| Hayes Meadow Primary School | 1.00 | 25 | 2.173 miles |
| Henry Chadwick Primary School | 1.00 | 12 | not published |
| Hob Hill CE/Methodist (VC) Primary School | 1.00 | 22 | 0.505 miles |
| Redbrook Hayes Community Primary School | 1.00 | 19 | 0.26 miles |
| Rugeley John Taylor | 1.00 | 13 | not published |
| St James Church of England Primary Academy | 1.00 | 12 | 1.345 miles |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School | 1.00 | 26 | not published |
| The Croft Primary School | 1.00 | 12 | 1.046 miles |
| The John Bamford Primary School | 1.00 | 27 | 0.979 miles |
| The Richard Clarke First School | 1.00 | 17 | 5.73 miles |
| The St. Mary's CofE Primary School | 1.00 | 7 | 3.97 miles |
| Gentleshaw Primary Academy | 0.92 | 24 | 1.686 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.