School admissions in South Croydon
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
9 schools. 2 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greenvale Primary School | 1.21 | 29 | 0.525 miles |
| St Peter's Primary School | 1.12 | 60 | 0.603 miles |
| Quest Primary School | 0.95 | 22 | not published |
| Regina Coeli Catholic Primary School | 0.95 | 59 | not published |
| Gresham Primary School | 0.93 | 30 | 1.622 miles |
| Atwood Primary School | 0.90 | 60 | 1.3 miles |
| Ridgeway Primary School | 0.90 | 80 | 0.947 miles |
| Purley Oaks Primary School | 0.88 | 78 | not published |
| Selsdon Primary and Nursery School | 0.88 | 26 | 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.
Year 7 places, September 2026
3 schools. 1 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coombe Wood School | 1.84 | 174 | 1.105 miles |
| The Quest Academy | 0.63 | 104 | 2.143 miles |
| Harris Academy Purley | 0.61 | 178 | 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.