The King's (The Cathedral) School: 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, 366 families put The King's (The Cathedral) School as their first choice and 701 named it as one of their preferences, for 127 places offered. That is 2.9 first choices for every place. 241 families who put it first were not offered a place there.
Demand has been fairly steady: 344 first choices in 2021, against 366 in 2026.
Across Peterborough, 83% of families were offered their first-choice secondary school for 2026 entry, and 97% were offered one of the schools they named.
In 2025, families in Peterborough lodged 82 appeals against secondary school offers; 69 reached a hearing and 4 succeeded (5.8% 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 | 127 | 366 | 701 | 2.9 | 241 |
| 2025 | 126 | 414 | 683 | 3.3 | 290 |
| 2024 | 159 | 308 | 585 | 1.9 | 162 |
| 2023 | 131 | 305 | 535 | 2.3 | 180 |
| 2022 | 128 | 297 | 554 | 2.3 | 170 |
| 2021 | 129 | 344 | 636 | 2.7 | 219 |
| 2020 | 126 | 315 | 594 | 2.5 | 190 |
| 2019 | 163 | 251 | 529 | 1.5 | 102 |
| 2018 | 134 | 309 | 537 | 2.3 | 180 |
| 2017 | 128 | 329 | 513 | 2.6 | 202 |
| 2016 | 133 | 284 | 505 | 2.1 | 153 |
| 2015 | 134 | 279 | 563 | 2.1 | 145 |
| 2014 | 131 | 303 | 602 | 2.3 | 172 |
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.