Surrey: how secondary school cut-offs moved in 2026

Last distance offered, Year 7, National Offer Day 2025 compared with 2026 · Catchmently analysis of council figures

Surrey had 19 clearly oversubscribed secondary schools with a single published last distance offered in both 2025 and 2026. On National Offer Day 2026, 11 had a shorter distance than the year before and 6 a longer one. Only 6 of the 19 stayed within 10% of the previous year's figure.

In 2026, 81.3% of secondary applicants were offered their first preference (England 83.6%; 60th lowest of 152 councils). In 2026, 89.8% of primary applicants were offered their first preference (England 92.4%; 36th lowest of 152 councils).

At 8 of these 19 Surrey secondaries, the distance only counts inside a priority group

Surrey County Council publishes how many places each school offered under each admission criterion, with the distance for the last criterion that received places. At these 8 oversubscribed secondaries in 2026 that was a priority group such as catchment, faith, a feeder school or a postcode area, and the criterion for any other applicant received no places in 2024, 2025 or 2026. Places are offered in priority order, so the last distance offered only compares children inside that group. At the other 11, the last places went on distance.

• Tomlinscote: 195 places went to children living in the catchment area in 2026 (187 in 2025, 201 in 2024), and none to children living outside it in any of the three years.
• Woking High: no places went to children living outside the catchment area in 2024, 2025 or 2026. The council notes that 2026 places used the old catchment and that a new catchment applies from 2 March 2026, after a ruling by the Office of the Schools Adjudicator, so past figures are a weaker guide here.
• Hinchley Wood: in 2026, after the higher priorities, all 126 remaining places went to children who both attend a named feeder primary and live in the catchment area. Catchment children at other primaries got none, and neither did anyone else.
• Weydon: 215 places went to children at its named partner primaries in 2026, and none to "any other applicant" in 2024, 2025 or 2026. Cobham Free School: no places went to children living outside the KT11 postcode area in any of those years.
• The Bishop Wand: in 2026, apart from 5 children with an education, health and care plan and 2 looked-after children, every place went to churchgoing families living in the catchment (198 Anglican, 11 other Christian). Brothers and sisters, and every later criterion, received none.
• St John the Baptist and St Paul's Catholic College gave their last places to Catholic children from a named area, and no later criterion received a place in 2026.

Each priority links to the school's page in Surrey County Council's allocation figures for September 2026; the 2024 and 2025 figures are in the council's earlier editions. First choices not offered: Department for Education.

School by school

How each school's last distance offered changed between 2025 and 2026, and how many families who put it first were not offered a place in 2026 (Department for Education).

The biggest moves, as published

• The Bishop Wand Church of England School: 3.16 mi in 2025, 0.84 mi in 2026 (−74%). Council source
• George Abbot School: 1.35 mi in 2025, 1.85 mi in 2026 (+37%). Council source

Year-by-year distances for every school in Surrey are in the pass, each with its source and offer date.

Reception (primary)

Clearly oversubscribed primary schools in Surrey with a single published last distance offered in both years:

Open Surrey on the map Schools in Surrey

Before you apply

A school's last distance offered depends on how many children apply, how many siblings take places first, which priority group the last place fell in and how the council measures distance. If the last place went to a group such as catchment or siblings, the distance, and how it moved, only applies within that group. Look at three or more years, read each school's admission rules and use every preference. Secondary applications close on 31 October 2026 (key dates, offer day and appeals). Read how to read a last distance offered or the national picture.

Method and sources

• "Clearly oversubscribed" means at least 10 first-preference applicants were not offered a place in both 2025 and 2026. Selective schools and schools with banded or multi-row figures are left out, so not every Surrey school appears here.
• Distances are compared as published by the council, in its own way of measuring, and shown in miles. A last distance offered is not a catchment area and does not show any family's chance of a place. Schools where the council shows the last place falling in a different priority group each year are left out. Other large swings can reflect catchment changes or added places rather than demand.
• Council publications: surreycc.gov.uk: FINAL Secondary allocation figures September 2026 V2 · surreycc.gov.uk: FINAL Elmbridge Primary allocation figures September 2026 V1 · surreycc.gov.uk: FINAL Runnymede Primary allocation figures September 2026 V1 · surreycc.gov.uk: FINAL Tandridge Primary allocation figures September 2026 V1 · surreycc.gov.uk: FINAL Reigate and Banstead Primary allocation figures September 2026 V · surreycc.gov.uk: FINAL Waverley Primary allocation figures September 2026 V1 · surreycc.gov.uk: FINAL Epsom and Ewell Primary allocation figures September 2026 V1 · surreycc.gov.uk: FINAL Guildford Primary allocation figures September 2026 V1. Applications and offers: Department for Education (OGL v3.0).