Barking Abbey School, A Specialist Sports and Humanities College: admissions history
How many families applied, how many places there were, and how far the last place went - every year we hold.
For September 2026 entry, 423 families put Barking Abbey School, A Specialist Sports and Humanities College as their first choice and 1097 named it as one of their preferences, for 359 places offered. That is 1.2 first choices for every place. 102 families who put it first were not offered a place there.
First-choice demand has risen from 341 in 2021 to 423 in 2026, while places went from 361 to 359.
Across Barking and Dagenham, 82% of families were offered their first-choice secondary school for 2026 entry, and 96% were offered one of the schools they named.
In 2025, families in Barking and Dagenham lodged 103 appeals against secondary school offers; 62 reached a hearing and 6 succeeded (9.7% of those heard).
Applications and offers by year
| Entry year | Places offered | First choices | Named at all | First choices per place | First choices not offered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 359 | 423 | 1097 | 1.2 | 102 |
| 2025 | 357 | 372 | 1039 | 1.0 | 66 |
| 2024 | 357 | 342 | 1029 | 1.0 | 36 |
| 2023 | 360 | 320 | 950 | 0.9 | 40 |
| 2022 | 355 | 306 | 1001 | 0.9 | 30 |
| 2021 | 361 | 341 | 1137 | 0.9 | 61 |
| 2020 | 359 | 344 | 1229 | 1.0 | 48 |
| 2019 | 359 | 334 | 1349 | 0.9 | 66 |
| 2018 | 357 | 349 | 1373 | 1.0 | 79 |
| 2017 | 356 | 324 | 1294 | 0.9 | 61 |
| 2016 | 276 | 373 | 1444 | 1.4 | 157 |
| 2015 | 275 | 376 | 1368 | 1.4 | 151 |
| 2014 | 266 | 348 | 1337 | 1.3 | 122 |
Source: DfE, Primary and secondary school applications and offers (school-level file). "Places offered" is the number of offers made on national offer day, which can differ from the school's published admission number.