School admissions in Wimborne
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
15 schools. 6 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rushcombe First School | 1.42 | 60 | not published |
| Wimborne First School and Nursery | 1.20 | 59 | 1.13 miles |
| Henbury View First School | 1.20 | 30 | not published |
| Hayeswood First School | 1.13 | 30 | 0.811 miles |
| Merley First School | 1.13 | 60 | 2.043 miles |
| Colehill First School | 1.10 | 30 | 1.021 miles |
| Pamphill Church of England First School | 1.00 | 14 | 4.558 miles |
| St James Church of England First School | 1.00 | 25 | 3.551 miles |
| Wimborne St Giles Church of England First School and Nursery | 1.00 | 12 | not published |
| Cranborne Church of England First School | 0.93 | 14 | not published |
| Witchampton Church of England First School | 0.92 | 12 | not published |
| Hampreston Church of England Voluntary Aided First School | 0.82 | 17 | not published |
| Three Legged Cross First and Nursery School | 0.75 | 12 | not published |
| St John's Church of England First School, Wimborne | 0.60 | 30 | not published |
| Sturminster Marshall First School | 0.53 | 15 | 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.