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Starting school in 2027: Reception places by council

Applications for Reception places in September 2027 close on Friday 15 January 2027, and offers arrive on Friday 16 April 2027. Pick your council for its first-choice odds, demand at every primary school and how its appeals go.

Across England, 92.4% of families were offered their first-choice primary school for September 2026 entry. The rate varies a long way between councils: every council ranked.

CouncilFirst choice offered (2026) Primary schoolsLast distances published
Barking and Dagenham 95.3% 44
Barnet 86.1% 87
Barnsley 95.7% 77
Bath and North East Somerset 94.1% 57
Bedford 93.4% 54
Bexley 91.4% 57
Birmingham 92.1% 279
Blackburn with Darwen 89.3% 51
Blackpool 93.9% 32
Bolton 89.5% 96
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 92.2% 56
Bracknell Forest 89.1% 30
Bradford 92.3% 160
Brent 88.5% 54
Brighton and Hove 93.8% 42
Bristol, City of 92.0% 96
Bromley 87.7% 71
Buckinghamshire 91.6% 157
Bury 91.4% 56
Calderdale 96.6% 79
Cambridgeshire 94.7% 201
Camden 81.5% 38
Central Bedfordshire 90.3% 94
Cheshire East 92.3% 121
Cheshire West and Chester 92.3% 126
City of London 73.9% 1
Cornwall 95.9% 227
County Durham 97.3% 200
Coventry 94.9% 85Yes
Croydon 89.6% 78
Cumberland 98.2% 130
Darlington 92.7% 28
Derby 94.4% 64
Derbyshire 94.5% 291
Devon 96.5% 300
Doncaster 96.5% 91
Dorset 93.9% 118
Dudley 92.0% 78
Ealing 90.2% 58
East Riding of Yorkshire 95.0% 118
East Sussex 91.1% 141Yes
Enfield 93.8% 67
Essex 90.3% 411
Gateshead 98.1% 63
Gloucestershire 91.6% 223Yes
Greenwich 89.3% 63
Hackney 88.1% 50
Halton 93.4% 49
Hammersmith and Fulham 74.6% 35
Hampshire 93.4% 324
Haringey 86.0% 50Yes
Harrow 86.6% 40
Hartlepool 98.3% 30
Havering 91.5% 50Yes
Herefordshire, County of 96.3% 79
Hertfordshire 89.1% 365Yes
Hillingdon 94.6% 55
Hounslow 89.3% 49
Isle of Wight 94.5% 37
Islington 79.4% 40
Kensington and Chelsea 75.4% 26
Kent 89.7% 433Yes
Kingston upon Hull, City of 95.2% 70
Kingston upon Thames 90.0% 31
Kirklees 93.8% 127
Knowsley 86.6% 49
Lambeth 80.6% 60
Lancashire 91.3% 473
Leeds 92.4% 222
Leicester 96.8% 75
Leicestershire 94.0% 225
Lewisham 87.4% 67
Lincolnshire 96.3% 267
Liverpool 88.6% 109
Luton 92.6% 38
Manchester 95.0% 135
Medway 93.9% 68
Merton 86.4% 43
Middlesbrough 96.3% 41
Milton Keynes 95.0% 80
Newcastle upon Tyne 92.7% 72
Newham 91.3% 67
Norfolk 94.4% 299
North East Lincolnshire 97.4% 45
North Lincolnshire 96.7% 58
North Northamptonshire 93.9% 98
North Somerset 96.8% 59
North Tyneside 91.7% 54
North Yorkshire 95.6% 282
Northumberland 96.8% 122
Nottingham 94.9% 75
Nottinghamshire 99.1% 255
Oldham 92.0% 79
Oxfordshire 94.0% 245
Peterborough 94.8% 59
Plymouth 93.5% 67
Portsmouth 93.0% 37
Reading 91.1% 38
Redbridge 88.2% 53
Redcar and Cleveland 97.0% 44
Richmond upon Thames 88.8% 40
Rochdale 89.2% 68
Rotherham 94.3% 87
Rutland 94.5% 17
Salford 91.1% 73
Sandwell 94.1% 86
Sefton 91.4% 72
Sheffield 95.1% 117
Shropshire 97.4% 124
Slough 91.3% 28
Solihull 91.7% 51
Somerset 95.0% 208
South Gloucestershire 92.8% 89
South Tyneside 96.9% 41
Southampton 93.3% 47
Southend-on-Sea 87.8% 29
Southwark 84.3% 64
St. Helens 90.3% 53
Staffordshire 95.1% 299
Stockport 94.1% 80
Stockton-on-Tees 97.7% 57
Stoke-on-Trent 94.4% 66
Suffolk 94.9% 250
Sunderland 95.0% 76
Surrey 89.8% 249Yes
Sutton 92.1% 33
Swindon 95.6% 60
Tameside 95.4% 71
Telford and Wrekin 91.3% 48
Thurrock 90.1% 39
Torbay 94.2% 31
Tower Hamlets 92.6% 65
Trafford 94.5% 59
Wakefield 94.4% 105
Walsall 93.8% 75
Waltham Forest 90.6% 51
Wandsworth 78.5% 56
Warrington 91.9% 62
Warwickshire 88.1% 179
West Berkshire 90.8% 56
West Northamptonshire 94.6% 148
West Sussex 92.4% 209
Westminster 82.4% 33
Westmorland and Furness 96.1% 112
Wigan 88.7% 98
Wiltshire 95.6% 194
Windsor and Maidenhead 86.2% 43
Wirral 95.3% 84
Wokingham 87.5% 46
Wolverhampton 93.2% 71
Worcestershire 94.0% 177Yes
York 94.1% 48

First choice offered: the share of families living in the council who were offered their first-choice primary school on offer day (Department for Education), wherever that school is. "Last distances published" marks councils whose own figures for the last child offered a place are on their page. England only: Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland run different admissions systems.

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