School admissions in Warrington
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 63 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.
Warrington in figures
For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 70 schools in Warrington first 2,207 times for 2,176 places: 1.01 first choices per place. 22 of the 70 had more first choices than places. For 2026 entry, 25 schools here gave their last places on distance, from 0.26 miles (Locking Stumps Community Primary School) to 2.82 miles (Chapelford Village Primary School).
For Year 7 places in September 2026, families named the 14 schools in Warrington first 2,711 times for 2,749 places: 0.99 first choices per place. 5 of the 14 had more first choices than places. For 2026 entry, 3 schools here gave their last places on distance, from 0.70 miles (Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School) to 5.45 miles (Bridgewater High School).
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
70 schools. 22 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
14 schools. 5 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| King's Leadership Academy Warrington | 1.37 | 165 | 1.171 miles |
| St Gregory's Catholic High School | 1.31 | 240 | 0.505 miles |
| Golborne High School | 1.18 | 236 | 1.646 miles |
| Beamont Collegiate Academy | 1.16 | 180 | not published |
| Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School | 1.14 | 175 | 0.704 miles |
| Culcheth High School | 0.96 | 198 | 3.373 miles |
| Birchwood Community High School | 0.93 | 180 | not published |
| Lowton Church of England High School | 0.89 | 146 | 2.461 miles |
| Great Sankey High School | 0.86 | 325 | 2.337 miles |
| Penketh High School | 0.83 | 216 | 2.227 miles |
| Bridgewater High School | 0.82 | 358 | 5.454 miles |
| Bruche Academy | 0.79 | 28 | not published |
| Padgate Academy | 0.76 | 160 | not published |
| Cardinal Newman Catholic High School | 0.73 | 142 | 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.