St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery: 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, 32 families put St Mary's CofE First School & Nursery as their first choice and 75 named it as one of their preferences, for 29 places offered. That is 1.1 first choices for every place. 3 families who put it first were not offered a place there.
Demand has been fairly steady: 32 first choices in 2021, against 32 in 2026.
Across Dorset, 94% of families were offered their first-choice primary school for 2026 entry, and 99% were offered one of the schools they named.
In 2025, families in Dorset lodged 28 appeals against primary school offers; 20 reached a hearing and 3 succeeded (15% 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 | 29 | 32 | 75 | 1.1 | 3 |
| 2025 | 21 | 16 | 52 | 0.8 | 0 |
| 2024 | 22 | 21 | 53 | 1.0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 27 | 19 | 48 | 0.7 | 0 |
| 2022 | 30 | 37 | 69 | 1.2 | 7 |
| 2021 | 30 | 32 | 63 | 1.1 | 3 |
| 2020 | 19 | 15 | 48 | 0.8 | 0 |
| 2019 | 30 | 31 | 67 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 2018 | 24 | 21 | 42 | 0.9 | 0 |
| 2017 | 28 | 25 | 57 | 0.9 | 0 |
| 2016 | 30 | 22 | 56 | 0.7 | 0 |
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.