School admissions in Whitstable
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 3 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.
Whitstable in figures
For Reception places in September 2026, families named the 5 schools in Whitstable first 255 times for 262 places: 0.97 first choices per place, against 1.00 across the Kent authority's 429 schools. One of the 5 had more first choices than places. For 2026 entry, 2 schools here gave their last places on distance, from 2.04 miles (Westmeads Community Infant School) to 3.66 miles (Joy Lane Primary Foundation 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
5 schools. 1 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westmeads Community Infant School | 1.07 | 59 | 2.038 miles |
| Swalecliffe Community Primary School | 0.98 | 42 | not published |
| Joy Lane Primary Foundation School | 0.96 | 89 | 3.661 miles |
| St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Whitstable | 0.92 | 25 | 0.88 miles |
| St Alphege Church of England Infant School | 0.91 | 47 | 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.