More than 99% get secondary school of their choice
Friday, 01 March 2013
Hampshire County Council's schools admissions service has been able to offer 99.5% of parents a place for their child at a school of their choice - with 96.2% getting their first preferred school, around 10% higher than the national averages released by the Department for Education last year.
The numbers getting a school of their choice is a record high. In total the service handled just over 13,000 on-time applications for Hampshire secondary schools and has notified parents of the outcome today.
Commenting Councillor Roy Perry, Hampshire County Council's Executive Lead Member for Children's Services, said: "I am delighted to see that an overwhelming majority of Hampshire children have been able to get into a secondary school of their choice this year - 99.5% is a very high success rate indeed when compared with rates elsewhere and is an improvement on last year's figure.
"I know that for the small number of children, some 60 out of more than 12,000 who applied, there will be disappointment not to have secured a place at one of their choices but that is because they applied to schools with exceptionally high demand. It is a mark of the high quality teaching in Hampshire schools that some have attracted more applicants than there are places but it really is only a very small proportion of the total number of applicants who have been unable to get a place at one of their preferred schools. The vast majority will be attending a school of their choice , and for over ninety six percent of families that is their first choice.
"No Hampshire child is without a place and those who did not secure a place at one of their chosen schools will be allocated a place at the nearest school with places available. Parents who have been unable to secure a place at their chosen school do of course have the right of appeal and they can put their child's name down on the school's waiting list. Places do become available as some parents change their mind or families move home and no longer need the place they had applied for.
The admissions team is now handling the primary school applications with offers due to go out on 16 April. In total the department will have dealt with 33,000 applications this year for children who are either starting primary or secondary school or transferring from infant to junior school.
In common with many areas around the country Hampshire has experienced heavy demand for primary school places. This is due to rising numbers births and more crucially increased numbers of families choosing to move into the county, in part attracted by the high quality schools, with more than 75% of children attending a primary school ranked good or outstanding by Ofsted.
In response to the increased demand for primary school places the County Council has committed more than £160m to providing an additional 8,000 primary school places in Hampshire.
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