School admissions in Southend-on-Sea
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 24 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
29 schools. 10 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. 7 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southend High School for Boys | 1.74 | 177 | not published |
| The Eastwood Academy | 1.63 | 220 | not published |
| Westcliff High School for Boys Academy | 1.54 | 182 | not published |
| Westcliff High School for Girls | 1.29 | 185 | not published |
| Southend High School for Girls | 1.25 | 217 | not published |
| St Thomas More High School | 1.13 | 179 | not published |
| St Bernard's High School | 1.05 | 175 | not published |
| Cecil Jones Academy | 0.82 | 188 | not published |
| Shoeburyness High School | 0.78 | 310 | 3.505 miles |
| Southchurch High School | 0.75 | 112 | not published |
| Chase High School | 0.62 | 182 | 1.704 miles |
| Belfairs Academy | 0.47 | 272 | 3.741 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.