School admissions in Shaftesbury
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 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.
Reception places, September 2026
6 schools. 2 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places |
|---|---|---|
| Semley Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School | 1.20 | 20 |
| Ludwell Primary School | 1.07 | 15 |
| Motcombe CofE Primary School | 1.00 | 8 |
| Shaftesbury Church of England Primary School | 1.00 | 40 |
| The Abbey CofE VA Primary School, Shaftesbury | 0.97 | 29 |
| St Andrew's Church of England Primary School | 0.93 | 14 |
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.