School admissions in Torbay

How heavily each school was applied to for September 2026 entry, from the applications and offers every admissions authority reports to the DfE. 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. 5 received more first preferences than they had places.

School	First preferences per place	Places
Preston Primary SchoolTorquay	1.60	45
Ilsham Church of England AcademyTorquay	1.32	25
Galmpton Church of England Primary SchoolBrixham	1.30	30
Shiphay Learning AcademyTorquay	1.13	30
St Margaret's AcademyTorquay	1.03	34
Curledge Street AcademyPaignton	1.00	37
Hayes SchoolPaignton	1.00	42
Kings Ash AcademyPaignton	1.00	23
Lift Barton HillTorquay	1.00	56
Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Primary SchoolTorquay	1.00	11
Priory Roman Catholic Primary School, TorquayTorquay	1.00	11
St Marychurch Church of England Primary and Nursery SchoolTorquay	1.00	16
Upton St James CofE Primary SchoolTorquay	1.00	7
Eden Park Primary & Nursery SchoolBrixham	0.97	29
All Saints Babbacombe CofE Primary SchoolTorquay	0.96	28
Homelands Primary SchoolTorquay	0.96	28
Ellacombe Church of England AcademyTorquay	0.96	27
Sherwell Valley Primary SchoolTorquay	0.96	77
White Rock Primary SchoolPaignton	0.96	73
Furzeham Primary SchoolBrixham	0.95	22
Collaton St Mary Church of England Primary SchoolPaignton	0.95	20
Torre Church of England AcademyTORQUAY	0.95	39
Roselands Primary SchoolPaignton	0.93	44
Watcombe Primary SchoolTorquay	0.93	27
Brixham Church of England Primary SchoolBrixham	0.92	12
Warberry CofE AcademyTorquay	0.91	22
Oldway Primary SchoolPaignton	0.89	55
Cockington Primary SchoolTorquay	0.88	43
St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary SchoolBrixham	0.88	8
Sacred Heart Catholic SchoolPaignton	0.86	22
St Michael's Church of England AcademyPaignton	0.80	25

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

8 schools. 5 received more first preferences than they had places.

School	First preferences per place	Places
Churston Ferrers Grammar School AcademyBrixham	1.43	159
Torquay AcademyTorquay	1.37	250
Torquay Boys' Grammar SchoolTorquay	1.30	166
Torquay Girls' Grammar SchoolTorquay	1.29	191
The Spires CollegeTorquay	1.03	194
Paignton AcademyPaignton	0.93	286
Brixham CollegeBrixham	0.86	134
St Cuthbert Mayne SchoolTorquay	0.40	189