Secondary school offers in Shropshire: offer day 2027
National Offer Day Monday 1 March 2027 · 20 secondary schools · first-choice odds, waiting lists and appeals
How likely is a first choice here?
For September 2026 entry, 91.0% of families living in Shropshire were offered their first-choice secondary school, against 83.6% across England. 36 families (1.3%) were offered none of the schools they named. Shropshire ranks 114 of 150 councils in England, hardest first (see every council).
5 of its 20 secondary schools had more first-choice applications than places.
The most sought-after, by first-choice applications per place offered: The Priory School (1.4 per place), Bridgnorth Endowed School (1.2 per place), The Thomas Adams School (1.1 per place), St Martins School (3-16 Learning Community) (1.1 per place), The Corbet School (1.1 per place).
If you didn't get your first choice
- Accept the place you were offered by the date in your offer letter. Accepting it does not affect a waiting list or an appeal, and a place that isn't accepted can be withdrawn.
- Get on the waiting lists you want. Every school must keep one until at least 31 December of the year your child starts. It is ranked by the school's admission rules, not by when you joined, so a family moving closer can go above you. Some councils add you automatically for schools you ranked higher than the one offered; your offer letter says which.
- Decide whether to appeal. You can appeal for every school that refused your child. You get at least 20 school days from the offer to lodge it, and on-time appeals must be heard within 40 school days of that deadline. The figures below show how often appeals succeed here.
- Look at schools that took lower preferences. These are the likeliest to have room now.
Schools that took children who ranked them lower
For September 2026 entry these 14 schools offered more places than they had first-choice applications, so some went to families who put them second or lower. They are the likeliest to have room after offer day; ask Shropshire or the school.
- Church Stretton School Church Stretton
- Idsall School Shifnal
- Lakelands Academy Ellesmere
- Ludlow Church of England School Ludlow
- Mary Webb School and Science College Shrewsbury
- Meole Brace School Shrewsbury
- Oldbury Wells School Bridgnorth
- Shrewsbury Academy Shrewsbury
- Sir John Talbot's School Whitchurch
- The Community College, Bishop's Castle Bishops Castle
- The Grove School Market Drayton
- The Lacon Childe School Kidderminster
- The Marches School Oswestry
- William Brookes School Much Wenlock
Every secondary school: demand for 2026 entry
Sorted by first-choice applications per place, the most contested first.
| School | Places offered | First choices per place | First choices offered |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Priory School Shrewsbury |
168 | 1.4 | 71% |
| Bridgnorth Endowed School Bridgnorth |
123 | 1.2 | 82% |
| The Thomas Adams School Shrewsbury |
207 | 1.1 | 86% |
| St Martins School (3-16 Learning Community) Oswestry |
49 | 1.1 | 91% |
| The Corbet School Shrewsbury |
153 | 1.1 | 91% |
| Belvidere School Shrewsbury |
168 | 1.0 | 89% |
| The Community College, Bishop's Castle Bishops Castle |
45 | 1.0 | 100% |
| Ludlow Church of England School Ludlow |
118 | 1.0 | 100% |
| The Marches School Oswestry |
204 | 1.0 | 100% |
| The Lacon Childe School Kidderminster |
99 | 1.0 | 100% |
| Lakelands Academy Ellesmere |
113 | 0.9 | 100% |
| The Grove School Market Drayton |
150 | 0.9 | 100% |
| William Brookes School Much Wenlock |
123 | 0.9 | 97% |
| Church Stretton School Church Stretton |
117 | 0.9 | 100% |
| Mary Webb School and Science College Shrewsbury |
115 | 0.9 | 100% |
| Sir John Talbot's School Whitchurch |
141 | 0.9 | 100% |
| Idsall School Shifnal |
197 | 0.9 | 98% |
| Shrewsbury Academy Shrewsbury |
139 | 0.8 | 100% |
| Meole Brace School Shrewsbury |
270 | 0.7 | 100% |
| Oldbury Wells School Bridgnorth |
154 | 0.7 | 100% |
Places offered is the number of offers made on national offer day, and first choices offered the share of families who put the school first and got it (Department for Education, September 2026 entry).
Appeals in Shropshire
| Year | Appeals lodged | Heard by a panel | Upheld | Share of heard appeals upheld |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | 89 | 60 | 19 | 31.7% |
| 2024/25 | 143 | 75 | 22 | 29.3% |
| 2023/24 | 255 | 131 | 29 | 22.1% |
Secondary school appeals across all of Shropshire, from the Department for Education. Appeals are not published school by school. Across England in 2025/26, 19.5% of 27,084 secondary appeals heard were upheld. How appeal odds differ between councils.
More for Shropshire
- Every school in Shropshire, with catchment areas and Ofsted
- Starting school in Shropshire
- Map of schools near your home, with your chance of a place where we have the data
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