More children than ever get place at one of their preferred secondary schools
Thousands of children across the borough will be offered places at secondary schools today, with more children than ever who applied on-time being offered a place at one of their preferred schools.
Today – 2 March – is National Offer Day, when children up and down the country will learn which secondary school they will attend for the 2020/21 academic year.
In Telford & Wrekin, we received more secondary applications than ever before and have offered more places at first preference schools compared to previous years.
2217 applications were received on time and every applicant who applied was offered a school place.
Of those, 1,762 (79.5 per cent) received their first preference, 204 (9.2 per cent) their second preference and 58 (2.6 per cent) their third preference.
In total 92.2 per cent of applicants were offered a place at one of their preferred schools, with the remaining 7.8 per cent offered alternative places.
Councillor Shirley Reynolds, Telford & Wrekin’s cabinet member for Children, Young People and Education, said: “The number of applications we’re receiving is increasing, but we’re working hard, together with schools, to meet demand.
“We’re continuing to provide more places through our commitment to expand secondary schools within the borough and have made sure that, once again, no-one who applies on-time is without a place.
“We’ve also been able to offer the vast majority of applicants one of their preferences”
There were 172 families who weren’t offered a place at one of their preferred schools.
When submitting an application parents are able to submit up to 4 school preferences.
However, less than 10 % of these families took up the option of submitting 4 schools preferences.
Councillor Reynolds added: “Putting down only one school doesn’t increase your chances of getting in there, it just increases your chances of disappointment. We strongly recommend that all families visit their local schools and then use all four preferences on their application form.”
The application process for school places is now entirely online, meaning parents can view their results on offer day, rather than having to wait for a letter to be posted out to them.
2019 2020
Total Number of Applications 2124 2217
1st Preferences Met 1748 1762
2nd Preferences Met 177 204
3rd Preferences Met 69 58
Any Preferences Met 2010 2045
Alternative Offers 114 172
No Offers 0 0
2019 2020
1st Preferences Met 82.3% 79.5%
2nd Preferences Met 8.3% 9.2%
3rd Preferences Met 3.25% 2.6%
Any Preferences Met 94.6% 92.2%
Alternative Offers 5.4% 7.8%
No Offers 0 0
