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A free, independent guide for parents - updated each admissions cycle. 26,506 schools · England & Wales
catchment.school

Schools in Rye

Reviewed by the catchment.school editorial team · Last updated 15 March 2026

Rye is a small medieval market town on the East Sussex coast with 8 schools in the catchment.school database, spanning nursery through to sixth form. The town is served by Rye Community Primary School (420 places, Ofsted Good) and Rye College as its main secondary, which has 750 places and enrolls 616 pupils, with 34.7% of students eligible for free school meals – above the national average and reflecting the school's broad intake from across the Rother district.

Three Church of England primaries serve the surrounding villages: Beckley, Peasmarsh, and Northiam CofE schools all draw families from rural hamlets east of Rye. These voluntary controlled schools apply faith criteria after looked-after children and siblings, so distance from church remains a secondary tiebreaker. Families applying to Rye College should note it is an Academy converter and sets its own admissions criteria, coordinated through East Sussex County Council's annual allocation round each March.

Primary schools in Rye: 1 oversubscribed (5)

Secondary Schools in Rye (1)

Other Schools in Rye (2)

Catchment area boundaries for schools in Rye are set by East Sussex and updated each year. The "last distance offered", how far the furthest successful applicant lived, changes annually based on the number of applications received.

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