Across Nottinghamshire, some parents hoping their soon-to-be primary school leaver will get a place at their top secondary pick may be out of luck.
Many of the county’s high performing and popular local schools are oversubscribed. With just 83.5% of children nationwide getting an offer from their first choice of secondary for the current 2025/26 school year - unfortunately this means some families will likely miss out.
Applications for a state-funded secondary school place for next year are open now, with the deadline falling in just a few weeks’ time - on October 31. Forms need to be submitted by then in order for children to have the best possible chance at getting into their desired school, although the outcomes won’t be revealed until next March.
To help out any parents curious about their child’s odds of receiving an offer from the school they want, we’ve taken a look at the Department of Education’s latest data on schools across the Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire Council council areas, comparing how many parents put each one down as their top pick, with how many first-choice offers they actually sent out.
Here were all the county’s hardest secondaries to get an offer from - all with first-choice offer rates of below 80%:
13. The Becket School
This year, 220 parents put this secondary academy in West Bridgford down as their top pick. About 167 first choice offers were handed out – a success rate of almost 76%. | Google
14. Serlby Park Academy
This year, 67 parents put this secondary academy in Bircotes down as their top pick. About 52 first choice offers were handed out – a success rate of nearly 78%. | Google
15. The West Bridgford School
Rounding out Nottinghamshire’s 15 hardest schools to get into is this extremely high-performing secondary academy. This year, 337 parents put it down as their top pick. About 265 first choice offers were handed out – a success rate of nearly 79%. | Google