Cheshire West: Oversubscribed primary schools revealed

With schools in the area poised to accept a new set of applications from parents for the coming year, the Standard has analysed figures detailing the number of applicants who were awarded offers for their first-choice primary school from the previous cycle (2023/24).

This data is taken from Government statistic which reveal that 36 of Cheshire West’s 128 primary schools received a greater number of first choice applications than were awarded places in the previous application window.

The most oversubscribed school in the area was St Martin’s Academy, Chester which was selected as a first preference 48 times, with 22 of these applications receiving offers. A success rate of 46 percent.

Other highly oversubscribed schools included: Delamere C of E Primary, Tarporley (58 percent of first preferences received a place), Wolverham Primary and Nursery School, Ellesmere Port (60 percent), and Mill View Primary, Chester (61 percent).

Somewhat unsurprisingly, some of the most successful schools in the borough are among the most oversubscribed.

Delamere C of E Primary, for example, scored highly in recent Department for Education (DfE) statistics for Key Stage 2 and is located towards the top of our list.

However, some highly successful schools like St Oswald’s near Mollington, which was judged by the DfE to be performing at a similar level, offered 100 percent of applicants who selected it as first preference a place. Although it is also worth noting that St Oswald’s had less than half the number of available places compared with Delamere C of E (10 to 26).