In Lancashire, and across the UK, parents/guardians had until 11:59pm on Thurday, January 15 to apply for a primary school place.
You will find out what school your child has been offered on Thursday, April 16 and unfortunately, National Offer Day can be a tense time for families as not all children received the school allocation they had wished for.
According to Lancashire County Council, 98.7% of children were awarded their first-choice primary school last time around but that meant 1.3% were left disappointed.
The latest available DfE figures show which Lancashire primary schools were the hardest to get into in September 2025.
Earlier this week we shared the hardest primary schools to get into this year across the county but below we have looked at just those in Preston, Chorley and South Ribble...

5. Cottam Primary School (12)
62 pupils put this school as their first choice but only 49 first choice offers were handed out which is a success rate of 79.03% | Google Maps

6. Grimsargh St Michael's Church of England Primary School (11)
32 pupils put this school as their first choice but only 25 first choice offers were handed out which is a success rate of 78.13% | Google Maps
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7. Goosnargh Oliverson's Church of England Primary School (10)
36 pupils put this school as their first choice but only 28 first choice offers were handed out which is a success rate of 77.78% | LCC
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8. Barton St Lawrence Church of England Primary School (9)
35 pupils put this school as their first choice but only 25 first choice offers were handed out which is a success rate of 71.43% | Google Maps


