School admissions in Islington
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
40 schools. 9 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
10 schools. 2 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Mary Magdalene Academy | 2.54 | 171 | not published |
| Central Foundation Boys' School | 1.36 | 173 | not published |
| Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School | 0.93 | 178 | 1.008 miles |
| City of London Academy Islington | 0.78 | 136 | not published |
| Highbury Fields School | 0.72 | 136 | 0.991 miles |
| City of London Academy, Highgate Hill | 0.68 | 102 | not published |
| St Aloysius' College | 0.63 | 86 | not published |
| Arts and Media School Islington | 0.62 | 99 | not published |
| City of London Academy Highbury Grove | 0.56 | 174 | 2.167 miles |
| Lift Beacon High | 0.46 | 85 | 2.172 miles |
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.