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In 2025-26, the last place at The Downs School went to an applicant living 4.63 miles from the school. We hold 2 years of published distances for this school.
We do not compare these years: we do not hold the criterion the last place went under for every one of them, or it differs between them, so the distances may not be like for like.
In 2026-27, The Downs School received 523 applications for 204 places offered — around 2.6 per place offered. 249 named it as a first preference, or about 1.2 first choices per place offered.
The Downs School has 5 upcoming open events: open day on Thursday, 12 November 2026 · open day on Tuesday, 17 November 2026 · open day on Wednesday, 2 December 2026. Seeing the school in person is the best way to judge whether the cut-off numbers above should worry you.
| Year | Last distance offered | Places | Applications | 1st preferences |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027-28 | — | 210 | — | — |
| 2026-27 | — | 204 offered | 523 | 249 |
| 2025-26 | 4.63 mi | 210 | 419 | 244 |
| 2024-25 | 8.31 mi | 205 | 546 | 259 |
| 2023-24 | — | 205 offered | 421 | 234 |
| 2022-23 | — | 206 offered | 460 | 250 |
| 2021-22 | — | 208 offered | 429 | 262 |
| 2020-21 | — | 207 offered | 413 | 237 |
| 2019-20 | — | 207 offered | 411 | 249 |
| 2018-19 | — | 207 offered | 340 | 223 |
| 2017-18 | — | 175 offered | 363 | 249 |
| 2016-17 | — | 177 offered | 379 | 231 |
| 2015-16 | — | 176 offered | 382 | 247 |
| 2014-15 | — | 177 offered | 345 | 213 |
11 earlier years of Year 7 figures
Last distance offered, places, applications and first preferences for Year 7 entry, 2014-15 to 2024-25, where the council published them, are part of Pro.
Verified from official sources across all four UK nations — when a figure isn't confirmed, we show nothing, never a guess.The places offered, applications and first preferences for 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 (Year 7) are DfE's figures for its predecessor, The Downs School, before it converted. The applications and first preferences for 2025-26 (Year 7) are DfE's figures for its predecessor, The Downs School, before it converted.
2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 (Year 7) were the admissions rounds of its predecessor, The Downs School (URN 110102): every figure for those years is that school's.
How to read this: the last distance offered is an outcome of each admission round — how far from the school the final offer reached after places were allocated under the published criteria. It is not a catchment boundary and it moves every year with sibling numbers, birth-year cohort size and application patterns.
Figures come from the local authority's published allocation data. Some councils publish the National Offer Day figure, which can understate the final September position after waiting-list movement — always confirm with the admissions authority before relying on a single year.
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