A new school year began this month and whilst National Offer Day may feel like a long time ago, it was a tense time for many families and unfortunately not all children received the school allocation they had wished for.
According to Lancashire County Council, 98 per cent of children were awarded their first-choice primary school for the 2026/2027 academic year but that meant 2 per cent were left disappointed.
The latest available DfE figures show which Lancashire primary schools were the hardest to get into in September 2026 and we gathered the 21 toughest schools across the county in our previous story here.
Below howeever, we have turned our attention to just the schools in South Ribble so take a look at the 10 hardest schools to get into across the city next.
We have ordered these schools in ascending order so that the hardest primary schools feature last.
If your child’s primary school does not feature that is because it had an 100 per cent acceptance rate.
5. Seven Stars Primary School (8)
29 pupils put this school as their first choice but only 27 first choice offers were handed out which is a success rate of 93.10% | Mark Waugh Manchester Press Photography Ltd
6. Penwortham Middleforth Church of England Primary School (7)
34 pupils put this school as their first choice but only 30 first choice offers were handed out which is a success rate of 88.24%
7. Leyland St James Church of England Primary School (6)
31 pupils put this school as their first choice but only 27 first choice offers were handed out which is a success rate of 87.10%
8. St Catherine's RC Primary School, Leyland (5)
35 pupils put this school as their first choice but only 30 first choice offers were handed out which is a success rate of 85.71% | Google