{ "name": "catchmentchecker.co.uk School Applications and Offers", "title": "School Applications and Offers", "url": "https://catchmentchecker.co.uk/datasets/school-applications-and-offers/", "csv": "https://catchmentchecker.co.uk/datasets/school-applications-and-offers.csv", "markdown": "https://catchmentchecker.co.uk/datasets/school-applications-and-offers/index.md", "computed_at": "2026-11-11", "license": "https://catchmentchecker.co.uk/terms", "headline": "The School Applications and Offers carries 24 published figures read from 4 sources' own pages; the 15 published figures given by phase run from 0.70 to 94.90 percent, read 11 November 2026.", "quotes": [ "The School Applications and Offers carries 24 published figures read from 4 sources' own pages; the 15 published figures given by phase run from 0.70 to 94.90 percent, read 11 November 2026.", "4 of the 13 named sources read in full publish a figure; 9 publish none, read 11 November 2026.", "School Applications and Offers, phase secondary: median 51.45 percent across 4 sources, read 11 November 2026.", "School Applications and Offers, phase primary: median 7.50 percent across 3 sources, read 11 November 2026.", "School Applications and Offers, phase sixth form: median 78 percent across 1 source, read 11 November 2026.", "School Applications and Offers, phase special: median 53.10 percent across 1 source, read 11 November 2026.", "School Applications and Offers, governance type academy: median 2.80 percent across 1 source, read 11 November 2026.", "School Applications and Offers, governance type foundation: median 24.10 percent across 1 source, read 11 November 2026.", "School Applications and Offers, governance type community and voluntary controlled: median 15.60 percent across 1 source, read 11 November 2026." ], "citation": "\"catchmentchecker.co.uk School Applications and Offers\", updated 2026-11-11, https://catchmentchecker.co.uk/datasets/school-applications-and-offers/.", "changed_since": null, "national": { "unit": "%", "n": 16, "units": { "%": 16 }, "published_sources": 4, "named_sources": 14, "read_sources": 13, "not_published": 9, "published_share": 0.308, "pooled": "withheld: these figures differ by breakdown and are never summarised together; see headline_figure and by_axis" }, "headline_figure": { "kind": "range", "label": "Range by phase", "unit": "%", "n": 15, "min": 0.7, "max": 94.9, "breakdown": { "axis": "phase" }, "sources": 4 }, "by_axis": { "phase": { "secondary": { "%": { "n": 4, "median": 51.45, "min": 4.9, "max": 89.2, "p25": 8.425, "p75": 87.875, "mean": 49.25 } }, "primary": { "%": { "n": 3, "median": 7.5, "min": 1.9, "max": 48.8, "p25": 1.9, "p75": 48.8, "mean": 19.4 } }, "sixth form": { "%": { "n": 1, "median": 78, "min": 78, "max": 78, "p25": 78, "p75": 78, "mean": 78 } }, "special": { "%": { "n": 1, "median": 53.1, "min": 53.1, "max": 53.1, "p25": 53.1, "p75": 53.1, "mean": 53.1 } } }, "governance type": { "academy": { "%": { "n": 1, "median": 2.8, "min": 2.8, "max": 2.8, "p25": 2.8, "p75": 2.8, "mean": 2.8 } }, "foundation": { "%": { "n": 1, "median": 24.1, "min": 24.1, "max": 24.1, "p25": 24.1, "p75": 24.1, "mean": 24.1 } }, "community and voluntary controlled": { "%": { "n": 1, "median": 15.6, "min": 15.6, "max": 15.6, "p25": 15.6, "p75": 15.6, "mean": 15.6 } } } }, "rows": [ { "source": "DfE - Primary and secondary school applications and offers, 2025-26", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/primary-and-secondary-school-applications-and-offers/2025-26", "figure": "92.6%", "value": 92.6, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": {}, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "Primary school applicants continue to be more likely to be offered their first preference school than secondary applicants (92.6% and 83.5% respectively).", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "229132c2565419c5c24e542226a9e175cb574a88f2438cca944478080dddd1b0" }, { "source": "DfE - Admission appeals in England, 2025", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/admission-appeals-in-england/2025", "figure": "17.7%", "value": 17.7, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": {}, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "1,595 primary appeals were successful, representing 17.7% of those heard.", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "fb47394aa47f036ff5383aa186765d58abf40e6cc00f3a573cc812a2f837b12f" }, { "source": "DfE - School capacity", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity", "figure": "15%", "value": 15, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": {}, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "15% of state-funded schools were at or in excess of capacity in 2024/25.", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "627ead21845b339a775dfdea2ea41e30d314caffb2c3db15aeb0795f20b8414e" }, { "source": "DfE - School pupils and their characteristics", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics", "figure": "48.2%", "value": 48.2, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": {}, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "While 48.2% of all schools were academies, over half of all pupils (60.4%) were attending an academy.", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "a1a384528160a29fe92cbbe34d1d509646a31f156c76b028c12c5346a9343d71" }, { "source": "DfE - Primary and secondary school applications and offers, 2025-26", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/primary-and-secondary-school-applications-and-offers/2025-26", "figure": "83.5%", "value": 83.5, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": { "phase": "secondary" }, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "The proportion of secondary applicants receiving an offer of their first choice school increased slightly from 82.9% in 2024 to 83.5% in 2025.", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "229132c2565419c5c24e542226a9e175cb574a88f2438cca944478080dddd1b0" }, { "source": "DfE - Primary and secondary school applications and offers, 2025-26", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/primary-and-secondary-school-applications-and-offers/2025-26", "figure": "94.9%", "value": 94.9, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": { "phase": "secondary" }, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "The proportion of secondary applicants receiving an offer of one of their top three preferred schools was 94.9%, a slight increase from 94.6% in 2024.", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "229132c2565419c5c24e542226a9e175cb574a88f2438cca944478080dddd1b0" }, { "source": "DfE - Admission appeals in England, 2025", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/admission-appeals-in-england/2025", "figure": "19.9%", "value": 19.9, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": { "phase": "secondary" }, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "5,903 secondary appeals were successful, representing 19.9% of those heard.", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "fb47394aa47f036ff5383aa186765d58abf40e6cc00f3a573cc812a2f837b12f" }, { "source": "DfE - Admission appeals in England, 2025", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/admission-appeals-in-england/2025", "figure": "1.9%", "value": 1.9, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": { "phase": "primary" }, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "In 2025, 14,584 primary appeals were lodged (equating to approximately 1.9% of total primary admissions), and 8,999 (approximately 1.2% of admissions) were heard by an appeals panel.", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "fb47394aa47f036ff5383aa186765d58abf40e6cc00f3a573cc812a2f837b12f" }, { "source": "DfE - Admission appeals in England, 2025", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/admission-appeals-in-england/2025", "figure": "4.9%", "value": 4.9, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": { "phase": "secondary" }, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "At secondary school phase, 37,289 appeals were lodged (approximately 4.9% of secondary admissions) and 29,640 (approximately 3.9%) were heard.", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "fb47394aa47f036ff5383aa186765d58abf40e6cc00f3a573cc812a2f837b12f" }, { "source": "DfE - Admission appeals in England, 2025", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/admission-appeals-in-england/2025", "figure": "2.8%", "value": 2.8, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": { "governance type": "academy" }, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "Academies had the highest rate of appeals heard in 2025 at 2.8%.", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "fb47394aa47f036ff5383aa186765d58abf40e6cc00f3a573cc812a2f837b12f" }, { "source": "DfE - Admission appeals in England, 2025", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/admission-appeals-in-england/2025", "figure": "24.1%", "value": 24.1, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": { "governance type": "foundation" }, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "Foundation schools had the highest rate of successful appeals in 2025, at 24.1% of appeals heard.", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "fb47394aa47f036ff5383aa186765d58abf40e6cc00f3a573cc812a2f837b12f" }, { "source": "DfE - Admission appeals in England, 2025", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/admission-appeals-in-england/2025", "figure": "15.6%", "value": 15.6, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": { "governance type": "community and voluntary controlled" }, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "By contrast, the rate for community and voluntary controlled schools has varied from 14.8% in 2021 to 19.1% in 2018, and is the lowest in 2025 at 15.6%.", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "fb47394aa47f036ff5383aa186765d58abf40e6cc00f3a573cc812a2f837b12f" }, { "source": "DfE - Admission appeals in England, 2025", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/admission-appeals-in-england/2025", "figure": "3.9%", "value": 3.9, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": { "phase": "secondary" }, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "Overall, the proportion of appeals heard was similar in 2016 (3.6%) and 2025 (3.9%), although it rose as high as 4.9% in 2020 before falling back over subsequent years.", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "fb47394aa47f036ff5383aa186765d58abf40e6cc00f3a573cc812a2f837b12f" }, { "source": "DfE - School capacity", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity", "figure": "78%", "value": 78, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": { "phase": "sixth form" }, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "The proportion of schools with unfilled sixth form places (where the number of sixth form pupils on roll are lower than the sixth form capacity) was 78% in 2024/25, which has remained stable since 2020/21.", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "627ead21845b339a775dfdea2ea41e30d314caffb2c3db15aeb0795f20b8414e" }, { "source": "DfE - School capacity", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity", "figure": "14%", "value": 14, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": { "phase": "primary" }, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "The proportion of primary schools at or in excess of capacity is at the lowest level since the data collection began at 14%, down from a high of 23% in 2014/15.", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "627ead21845b339a775dfdea2ea41e30d314caffb2c3db15aeb0795f20b8414e" }, { "source": "DfE - School capacity", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity", "figure": "19%", "value": 19, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": { "phase": "secondary" }, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "The number of state-funded secondary schools at or in excess of capacity was 651 in 2024/25 (19% of secondary schools).", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "627ead21845b339a775dfdea2ea41e30d314caffb2c3db15aeb0795f20b8414e" }, { "source": "DfE - School capacity", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity", "figure": "0.5%", "value": 0.5, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": {}, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "In total, the number of pupils in places that exceeded their school's capacity is 47,000 (0.5% of places) in May 2025.", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "627ead21845b339a775dfdea2ea41e30d314caffb2c3db15aeb0795f20b8414e" }, { "source": "DfE - School capacity", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity", "figure": "0.7%", "value": 0.7, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": { "phase": "secondary" }, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "In secondary schools, there were 29,000 (0.7%) pupils in places that exceeded their school’s capacity.", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "627ead21845b339a775dfdea2ea41e30d314caffb2c3db15aeb0795f20b8414e" }, { "source": "DfE - School capacity", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity", "figure": "81%", "value": 81, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": { "phase": "secondary" }, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "For secondary schools, 81% had one or more unfilled place (2,770 schools).", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "627ead21845b339a775dfdea2ea41e30d314caffb2c3db15aeb0795f20b8414e" }, { "source": "DfE - School capacity", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity", "figure": "13%", "value": 13, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": {}, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "Across both primary and secondary schools, the total number of unfilled places was 1.2 million in 2024/25 (13% of total school places available).", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "627ead21845b339a775dfdea2ea41e30d314caffb2c3db15aeb0795f20b8414e" }, { "source": "DfE - School capacity", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity", "figure": "1%", "value": 1, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": { "phase": "primary" }, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "The total anticipated number of primary pupils forecast by local authorities in England shows a decline of around 1% per year until the end of the forecast period (2029/30).", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "627ead21845b339a775dfdea2ea41e30d314caffb2c3db15aeb0795f20b8414e" }, { "source": "DfE - School pupils and their characteristics", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics", "figure": "48.8%", "value": 48.8, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": { "phase": "primary" }, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "48.8% of primary schools are now academies or free schools, accounting for 49.9% of the primary school population.", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "a1a384528160a29fe92cbbe34d1d509646a31f156c76b028c12c5346a9343d71" }, { "source": "DfE - School pupils and their characteristics", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics", "figure": "83.9%", "value": 83.9, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": { "phase": "secondary" }, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "83.9% of secondary schools are academies or free schools, accounting for 83.6% of secondary school pupils.", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "a1a384528160a29fe92cbbe34d1d509646a31f156c76b028c12c5346a9343d71" }, { "source": "DfE - School pupils and their characteristics", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics", "figure": "53.1%", "value": 53.1, "unit": "%", "vat": null, "axis": { "phase": "special" }, "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "quote": "53.1% of state-funded special schools are academies or free schools, accounting for 49.7% of special school pupils", "source_class": "primary-government", "text_sha256": "a1a384528160a29fe92cbbe34d1d509646a31f156c76b028c12c5346a9343d71" } ], "not_published": [ { "source": "DfE - applications and offers: methodology", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/methodology/primary-and-secondary-school-applications-and-offers", "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" }, { "source": "DfE - secondary and primary school applications and offers 2025 data set", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-catalogue/data-set/65b074b6-b6df-419b-af04-dd0f19865b59", "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" }, { "source": "DfE - secondary and primary school applications and offers 2024 data set", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-catalogue/data-set/9cfdc3d7-279b-49eb-b713-4fcfeb0e519c", "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" }, { "source": "GOV.UK - Primary and secondary school applications and offers: 2026", "url": "https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/primary-and-secondary-school-applications-and-offers-2026", "retrieved_at": "2026-10-11", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" }, { "source": "DfE - admission appeals methodology", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/methodology/school-admission-appeals-in-england-methodology", "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" }, { "source": "Scottish Government - school placing requests and appeal hearings: guidance for local authorities", "url": "https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-school-placing-requests-and-appeal-hearings/", "retrieved_at": "2026-09-11", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" }, { "source": "Scottish Government - school placing requests and appeals: information for parents", "url": "https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-school-placing-requests-and-appeals-in-2020/", "retrieved_at": "2026-09-11", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" }, { "source": "Scottish Government - school education statistics collection", "url": "https://www.gov.scot/collections/school-education-statistics/", "retrieved_at": "2026-10-11", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" }, { "source": "the release per series", "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics", "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11", "reason": "read in full and no accepted figure on the page" } ], "sources": [ { "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/primary-and-secondary-school-applications-and-offers/2025-26", "label": "DfE - Primary and secondary school applications and offers, 2025-26", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/methodology/primary-and-secondary-school-applications-and-offers", "label": "DfE - applications and offers: methodology", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-catalogue/data-set/65b074b6-b6df-419b-af04-dd0f19865b59", "label": "DfE - secondary and primary school applications and offers 2025 data set", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-catalogue/data-set/9cfdc3d7-279b-49eb-b713-4fcfeb0e519c", "label": "DfE - secondary and primary school applications and offers 2024 data set", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/primary-and-secondary-school-applications-and-offers-2026", "label": "GOV.UK - Primary and secondary school applications and offers: 2026", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/admission-appeals-in-england/2025", "label": "DfE - Admission appeals in England, 2025", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/methodology/school-admission-appeals-in-england-methodology", "label": "DfE - admission appeals methodology", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity", "label": "DfE - School capacity", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics", "label": "DfE - School pupils and their characteristics", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-school-placing-requests-and-appeal-hearings/", "label": "Scottish Government - school placing requests and appeal hearings: guidance for local authorities", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-school-placing-requests-and-appeals-in-2020/", "label": "Scottish Government - school placing requests and appeals: information for parents", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://www.gov.scot/collections/school-education-statistics/", "label": "Scottish Government - school education statistics collection", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN07147/SN07147.pdf", "label": "House of Commons Library - School places and admissions in England", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" }, { "url": "https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics", "label": "the release per series", "license": "the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment" } ], "methodology": "Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2). 4 of the 13 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 9 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 1 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere. The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source for each breakdown it prices, in % (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences for one breakdown), so a page that gives figures for several breakdowns gives one for each and N counts 16 figures, never sentences; 177 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded. The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): the DfE, Scottish and Welsh releases stacked into one per-authority series - first-preference and any-preference offer rates, appeals lodged, heard and upheld, capacity and unfilled places, pupil numbers - and then the join that gives the parent a real answer: the offer rate and the appeal success rate of the authority beside the cut-off distance of the school they are asking about, with the falling-roll trend that says whether that distance is likely to widen. Each figure is an observation sourced to the department that published it, dated, never recomputed as ours.", "embed": "

0.70 to 94.90 percent

15 of 24 published figures (phase), School Applications and Offers, across 4 sources, read 11 November 2026

Source: catchmentchecker.co.uk School Applications and Offers
" }