School admissions in Bath and North East Somerset
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 37 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.
Reception places, September 2026
57 schools. 14 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
12 schools. 6 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beechen Cliff School | 1.49 | 172 | not published |
| Hayesfield Girls School | 1.32 | 234 | not published |
| Oldfield School | 1.15 | 207 | 4.62 miles |
| Norton Hill Academy | 1.09 | 279 | 2.299 miles |
| Ralph Allen School | 1.06 | 191 | not published |
| Chew Valley School | 1.05 | 200 | 4.375 miles |
| Saint Gregory's Catholic College | 0.96 | 165 | not published |
| Wellsway School | 0.89 | 226 | 3.417 miles |
| Somervale Secondary School | 0.86 | 120 | not published |
| Writhlington School | 0.83 | 178 | not published |
| Lift Broadlands | 0.82 | 39 | not published |
| St Mark's CofE School | 0.46 | 68 | 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.