School admissions in Isle of Wight

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

37 schools. 6 received more first preferences than they had places.

School	First preferences per place	Places
Dover Park Primary SchoolRyde, Isle of Wight	1.55	29
Brighstone Church of England Aided Primary SchoolNewport	1.45	11
Godshill Primary SchoolVentnor	1.22	23
Nine Acres Primary SchoolNewport	1.12	58
Gurnard Primary SchoolCowes	1.10	60
Newchurch Primary SchoolSandown	1.07	30
Binstead Primary SchoolRyde	1.00	29
Brading Church of England Controlled Primary SchoolSandown	1.00	7
Broadlea Primary SchoolSandown	1.00	18
Greenmount Primary SchoolRyde	1.00	21
Holy Cross Catholic Primary SchoolEast Cowes	1.00	18
Hunnyhill Ormiston AcademyNewport	1.00	32
Lanesend Primary SchoolCowes	1.00	30
Newport Church of England Aided Primary SchoolNewport	1.00	31
Queensgate Foundation PrimaryEast Cowes	1.00	42
St Helens Primary SchoolRyde	1.00	10
St Saviour's Catholic Primary SchoolTotland Bay	1.00	7
The Bay Church of England SchoolSandown	1.00	37
Carisbrooke Church of England Controlled Primary SchoolNewport	0.97	34
Barton Primary SchoolNewport	0.96	27
Shalfleet Church of England Primary SchoolNewport	0.95	21
St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary SchoolNewport	0.95	20
Gatten and Lake Primary SchoolShanklin	0.94	18
St Francis Catholic and Church of England Primary AcademyVentnor	0.94	17
Nettlestone Primary SchoolSeaview	0.93	30
Wootton Community Primary SchoolRyde	0.93	30
St Blasius Shanklin CofE Primary AcademyShanklin	0.93	27
Wroxall Primary SchoolVentnor	0.92	12
Bembridge Church of England Primary SchoolBembridge	0.91	22
Niton Primary SchoolVentnor	0.90	20
Northwood Primary SchoolCowes	0.90	30
Summerfields Primary SchoolNewport	0.89	19
Freshwater & Yarmouth Church of England Aided Primary SchoolFreshwater	0.88	25
Haylands Primary SchoolRyde	0.83	42
Oakfield Church of England Aided Primary School, RydeRyde	0.81	21
St Mary's Catholic Primary SchoolRyde	0.76	17
Arreton St George's Church of England (Aided) Primary SchoolNewport	0.75	4

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

7 schools. 4 received more first preferences than they had places.

School	First preferences per place	Places
The Island Free SchoolVentnor	1.84	111
Carisbrooke CollegeNewport	1.30	110
Lift RydeRyde	1.03	265
Christ The King CollegeNewport	1.03	230
Cowes Enterprise College, An Ormiston AcademyCowes	0.87	202
The Bay Church of England SchoolSandown	0.72	190
Medina CollegeNewport	0.49	109