School admissions in Thatcham
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
12 schools. 3 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parsons Down Infant School | 1.31 | 29 | not published |
| Cold Ash St Mark's CE Primary School | 1.21 | 29 | 1.351 miles |
| St Finian's Catholic Primary School | 1.03 | 29 | 1.656 miles |
| Hampstead Norreys C.E. Primary School | 1.00 | 3 | not published |
| Spurcroft Primary School | 0.96 | 55 | not published |
| Francis Baily Primary School | 0.95 | 40 | not published |
| Ashford Hill Primary School | 0.95 | 19 | not published |
| Hermitage Primary School | 0.93 | 30 | not published |
| Curridge Primary School | 0.93 | 14 | not published |
| Whitelands Park Primary School | 0.87 | 55 | not published |
| Thatcham Park CofE Primary | 0.86 | 50 | not published |
| Yattendon C.E. Primary School | 0.86 | 14 | 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.