1 in 5 children are not getting their first choice of school

AZ — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:01:21 +0000

Families face record competition for places at secondary schools in more than a third of local authorities this year, a Guardian survey has found.

Demand for places at the most popular schools has reached a new high, with soaring applications meaning that in many parts of the country more than one in five children have missed out on their first choice of school.

Local authorities are working through the weekend to confirm the allocation of every state secondary school place in England before they send out letters to the parents of 570,000 11-year-olds on Monday.

Several councils in London and the south-east are reporting soaring applications linked to an exodus of pupils from private schools in the recession. It is adding to the pressure in the competition for places at high-performing state schools and grammars. In Kensington and Chelsea and Richmond in west London nearly four in 10 people will not get their first choice of school this year. In Middlesbrough, one in four will have to settle for second best and in Windsor one in five missed out.

The Guardian contacted the 150 local authorities in England. With many still working to allocate their places, 55 responded. The figures reveal how the government is still struggling to meet its pledge that parents in every part of the country have the choice of good schools for their child.

Calderdale, Darlington, Herefordshire, Peterborough, Salford, South Gloucestershire and Worcestershire all face increases in applications along with 10 of the 17 London local authorities in the survey. Lambeth saw a 17% rise in applications; Westminster and Merton both saw increases of more than 7%. In West Berkshire 17% of families have missed their first choice, in Gloucestershire 19% missed out and in Sandwell 26% were given a back-up instead of their first choice.

In other areas the future of some schools will be cast into doubt as a demographic drop leads to more empty seats in classrooms this year. Some 27 local authorities reported their applications had fallen. The rest saw no change in application rates.

In 17 local authorities which responded demand for places has risen. Richmond, west London, is reporting a “considerable” rise with the proportion getting their first place slipping from 64.4% last year to 62% this year. Cormac Smith of Richmond council said: “We are feeling the pinch as parent switch from private to the state secondaries. There is pressure on places this year.”

“If schools are oversubscribed, the government should give councils the financial support to put on another form. It’s time that Jim Knight and Ed Balls take a bit of the blame for all this. They continually blame parents but what’s so wrong about wanting a school in the right place? You can’t overestimate the stress parents go through waiting for a school place. We aren’t all terrible people and can’t all afford to move house.”

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1 in 5 children are not getting their first choice of school

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