School admissions in Wareham
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 1 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.
Wareham in figures
For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 9 schools in Wareham first 159 times for 162 places: 0.98 first choices per place, against 1.00 across the Dorset authority's 118 schools. One of the 9 had more first choices than places. For 2026 entry, one school here gave its last places on distance: Wool Church of England Primary School, to 1.44 miles.
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
9 schools. 1 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wool Church of England Primary School | 1.13 | 15 | 1.435 miles |
| Bere Regis Primary and Preschool | 1.00 | 18 | not published |
| Corfe Castle Church of England Primary School | 1.00 | 15 | not published |
| Lulworth and Winfrith CofE Primary School | 1.00 | 3 | not published |
| St Mary & St Joseph's Catholic Primary School | 1.00 | 5 | not published |
| Stoborough Church of England Primary School | 1.00 | 25 | not published |
| Wareham St Mary Church of England Primary School | 1.00 | 21 | not published |
| Bovington Academy | 0.92 | 26 | not published |
| Sandford St Martin's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School | 0.91 | 34 | 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.