School admissions in Kingston upon Thames
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
31 schools. 8 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
11 schools. 6 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tiffin School | 2.46 | 195 | not published |
| The Tiffin Girls' School | 2.35 | 189 | not published |
| Richard Challoner School | 1.56 | 150 | not published |
| The Kingston Academy | 1.46 | 210 | 1235 m (≈0.77 mi) |
| The Holy Cross School | 1.05 | 157 | not published |
| The Hollyfield School and Sixth Form Centre | 1.05 | 193 | 1817 m (≈1.13 mi) |
| Tolworth Girls' School and Sixth Form | 0.90 | 255 | 2621 m (≈1.63 mi) |
| Coombe Girls' School | 0.79 | 252 | 2605 m (≈1.62 mi) |
| Chessington School | 0.73 | 147 | 7.189 km (≈4.47 mi) |
| Coombe Boys' School | 0.61 | 194 | 3232 m (≈2.01 mi) |
| Southborough High School | 0.45 | 173 | 2.079 km (≈1.29 mi) |
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.