School admissions in Stoke-on-Trent
How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 39 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
66 schools. 17 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
15 schools. 8 received more first preferences than they had places.
| School | First preferences per place | Places | Cutoff distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Joseph's College | 1.90 | 150 | not published |
| Trentham Academy | 1.25 | 146 | 1.538 miles |
| The Excel Academy | 1.14 | 238 | not published |
| St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy | 1.05 | 209 | 1.073 miles |
| Co-op Academy Florence MacWilliams | 1.04 | 171 | not published |
| Co-op Academy Stoke-On-Trent | 1.03 | 264 | 1.725 miles |
| Ormiston Horizon Academy | 1.02 | 208 | not published |
| Thistley Hough Academy | 1.01 | 208 | 1.202 miles |
| St Thomas More Catholic Academy | 1.00 | 197 | 1.71 miles |
| Discovery Academy | 0.94 | 221 | not published |
| Ormiston Meridian Academy | 0.89 | 168 | not published |
| Ormiston Sir Stanley Matthews Academy | 0.89 | 233 | not published |
| St Peter's CofE Academy | 0.81 | 202 | not published |
| Haywood Academy | 0.78 | 192 | 1.735 miles |
| Birches Head Academy | 0.53 | 129 | 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.