School admissions in Oldham
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 57 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
79 schools. 21 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
14 schools. 4 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Blue Coat CofE School | 2.63 | 232 | not published |
| The Brian Clarke Church of England Academy | 2.04 | 224 | not published |
| The Crompton House Church of England Academy | 1.12 | 296 | 0.197 miles |
| North Chadderton School | 1.10 | 262 | not published |
| Co-op Academy Failsworth | 0.96 | 313 | not published |
| Saddleworth School | 0.91 | 293 | not published |
| The Hathershaw College | 0.83 | 200 | not published |
| Co-op Academy Strinesdale | 0.73 | 83 | not published |
| Saint John Henry Newman Roman Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy | 0.70 | 265 | not published |
| Oasis Academy Oldham | 0.69 | 248 | not published |
| E-ACT Royton and Crompton Academy | 0.69 | 221 | not published |
| The Radclyffe School | 0.67 | 292 | not published |
| Oasis Academy Leesbrook | 0.62 | 252 | not published |
| E-ACT the Oldham Academy North | 0.36 | 232 | 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.