School admissions in Swindon
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
70 schools. 13 received more first preferences than they had places.
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
15 schools. 6 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abbey Park School | 1.26 | 240 | 0.936 miles |
| Swindon Academy | 1.12 | 200 | 1.273 miles |
| The Ridgeway School & Sixth Form College | 1.11 | 270 | not published |
| The Dorcan Academy | 1.10 | 170 | 0.895 miles |
| Kingsdown School | 1.02 | 232 | 1.032 miles |
| The Commonweal School | 1.01 | 232 | 4.152 miles |
| Lawn Manor Academy | 0.99 | 200 | not published |
| Royal Wootton Bassett Academy | 0.97 | 230 | not published |
| Lydiard Park Academy | 0.95 | 232 | 4.747 miles |
| Bradon Forest School | 0.94 | 174 | not published |
| Highworth Warneford School | 0.93 | 140 | 5.186 miles |
| St Joseph's Catholic College | 0.93 | 256 | not published |
| Great Western Academy | 0.90 | 180 | 1.783 miles |
| Nova Hreod Academy | 0.67 | 228 | not published |
| The Deanery CofE Academy | 0.44 | 104 | 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.