Almost nine out of 10 Oxfordshire children applying for secondary school places across the county have been offered a place at their first-choice school for September.
In total 88.64 per cent of pupils have received a first-preference offer, despite an increase in the number of pupils transferring to secondary schools in Oxfordshire.
A further 6.66 per cent have been offered their second choice and 1.53 per cent offered their third preference, leaving just 3.17 per cent of applicants being offered a place at a school not among their stated preferences.
The percentage of first preference offers has fallen slightly from 92.13 per cent last year. Overall 6619 Oxfordshire children were offered secondary school places this year - 85 more than in 2016 and 268 more than in 2015.
Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education Steve Harrod said: “Once again we have been able to give the vast majority of families the news they were hoping to receive. Oxfordshire has a strong record on school place-planning and compares very favourably with other parts of the country when it comes to making first-choice offers.
“We are expecting to see our secondary school-age population continue to increase over the next few years, as the growth we saw at our primary schools over the last decade translates into greater demand for secondary school places.
“We are well placed to meet this challenge, both through our ongoing work with existing schools to identify expansion opportunities where they are needed, and our role in delivering entirely new schools where local housing growth demands their provision.”
Appeals
Cllr Harrod added: “Unfortunately, there are always circumstances where applications for particular schools exceed available spaces, and we can’t offer everyone a place. An appeal process is available to families wishing to challenge the outcome of their application, and details of how to do this have been sent to parents. Children's names can also be placed on ‘continued interest’ lists in case places become available at schools between now and September.”
Secondary School offer letters will be sent by 8th May 2017.
