Contested schools in St. Helens

These are the St. Helens schools that turned first-choice families away in at least one of the last three years — either because more families named them first than they had places, or because they refused families who named them first anyway. Figures shown are for 2026/27. Demand is not a forecast: an oversubscribed school turns more families away, which is not the same as their appeals succeeding more often.

Appeal success rates for St. Helens

Secondary schools (3)

Each has its own page with a 12-year demand history.

Contested secondary schools in St. Helens, 2026/27
School	Places	First choices	Per place
Rainford High School	258	312	1.21
The Sutton Academy	255	298	1.17
De La Salle School	228	234	1.03

Primary schools (25)

Primary schools are listed here as figures rather than pages. Most refusals at the Reception intake are infant class size cases, where a panel can only act on three narrow grounds and fewer than one in ten appeals succeeds — so the honest thing to publish is the data, not a page inviting an appeal.

Contested primary schools in St. Helens, 2026/27
School	Places	First choices	Per place
Grange Valley Primary School	29	47	1.62
Rivington Primary School	29	45	1.55
Eccleston Lane Ends Primary School	34	51	1.50
St Peter's CofE Primary School	28	42	1.50
Eaves Primary School	30	44	1.47
Robins Lane Community Primary School	28	38	1.36
Rainford CofE Primary School	30	40	1.33
St Mary & St Thomas CofE Primary School	29	38	1.31
Garswood Primary and Nursery School	27	34	1.26
Allanson Street Primary School	59	72	1.22
Parish Church of England Primary School, St Helens	30	35	1.17
Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School	29	31	1.07
St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School	30	32	1.07
The District CofE Primary School	44	46	1.05
Bleak Hill Primary School	90	92	1.02
Carr Mill Primary School	41	42	1.02
Lyme Community Primary School	30	30	1
St Austin's Catholic Primary School	29	29	1
St Bartholomew's Catholic Primary School	26	26	1
Haydock English Martyrs' Primary School	30	28	0.93
Nutgrove Methodist Primary School	27	25	0.93
Oakdene Primary Academy	29	27	0.93
Rainford Brook Lodge Community Primary School	30	25	0.83
Ashurst Primary School	29	22	0.76
Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School	8	6	—

Department for Education, Primary and secondary school applications and offers, school-level file, 2026/27. Appeal outcomes are not published for individual schools — how we source and calculate the figures.