Hundreds of children miss out on preferred school choices

More than 300 children in Coventry missed out on a place at all their preferred schools this year.

In Coventry, 325 children applying for secondary schools and 26 children applying for primary places did not get one of their preferred schools on the national offers days this year.

This total of 351 was a decrease compared to the 401 who missed out in 2018.

In 2019, there were no children in Coventry who did not receive an offer of a primary school place, but  15 children who had no offer of a secondary school place.

One in 13 Year 6 pupils (7.5%) in Coventry missed out on place at any of their preferred secondary schools.

In Warwickshire, a total of 373 children did not receive an offer for any of their preferences in 2019, down from 412 in 2018.

This included 45 applicants for Reception and 328 applicants for Year 7. There were 26 children who received no primary school place offers and two children who received no secondary offers.

In Coventry, 77.2% of children applying for a secondary place received their first choice of school, while 80.4% of children in Warwickshire received their first choice of school.

For those applying for primary school, 94.8% of those in Coventry got their top pick, while it was 93.9% in in Warwickshire.

A spokesperson for Coventry City Council pointed to some applicants only naming one school as one of the reasons why some did not get a 'preferred school'.

The statement provided upon request from CoventryLive, said: “A great deal of work goes into helping parents/carers to make school applications on and ensuring they are aware of the correct process.

“We’re very pleased the vast majority of children were allocated a place at their first preference school, particularly at a time with a population bulge creating more demand.

“Typically those not getting any of their preferences did not use all of their applications, often applying only for one school, or did not include a request for their catchment area school where they will generally have a higher priority when applications are considered. We have made clear in our guidance that people should include their catchment school as at least one of their choices.”

Across England, 80.9% of applicants for a secondary school place received an offer of their first preference school on National Offers Day, March 1.

This was down from 82.1% in 2018, and is the lowest proportion getting their first choice since records for secondary schools began in 2010.

The proportion receiving an offer of any of their preferences also dropped to 94.8% in 2019, from 95.5% in 2018, according to figures published by the Department of Education.

In 2019, 604,500 applications for a secondary school place were received, an increase of 3.7% on 2018 (which itself saw a 3.6% increase on 2017 application numbers), as rising births since 2002 continue to move into secondary level.

At primary level, 90.6% of applicants received an offer of their first choice school on National Offers Day, April 16, and 98% received an offer of one of their top three preferences.

The proportion of primary applicants who received an offer of their first choice school decreased slightly from 91.0% in 2018.

The proportion of applications that did not receive a place at any of their preferred secondary schools increased from 4.5% in 2018 to 5.2% in 2019, the highest proportion on record.

For primary school applicants, the proportion not getting a place at a preferred school rose from 1.9% to 2%.

Warwickshire County Council was contacted for a comment but one was yet to be provided to CoventryLive.

  

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