Thousands of children across Shropshire accepted into their preferred school

New figures from the Department for Education show that 93 per cent of children beginning either primary or secondary education in Shropshire will be joining their preferred school. In Telford, the figure is slightly lower at 86 per cent.

Karen Bradshaw, director of children’s services at Shropshire Council, said there is a growing pressure for primary school places right across England.

There were 2,722 applications for pre-school children to join reception in one of Shropshire's primaries.

Of those, 95 per cent were accepted into their first choice, and 99 per cent were accepted into one their three preferred options.

Pressure

Mrs Bradshaw said: "We continue to ensure that a very high percentage of pupils will be going to their first preference of primary school in 2018.

"There is pressure for primary school places across England, and whilst we are not experiencing the same level of pressure, there are some areas of Shropshire where this is the case.

"There are sufficient secondary school places for pupils across the local authority. Shropshire Council’s admissions team works hard to ensure that as many children as possible are able to attend their preferred school.

"Although it is not possible in every case, the proportion of applicants who will attend one of their top three preferred schools is well above the national average and all applicants have been offered a school place."

The data shows that of the 2,830 children in Shropshire who applied to start year seven in one of the area's secondary schools, 92 per cent are heading to their first choice.

It is higher than the average rate across the West Midlands where 79 per cent of children were accepted into their preferred secondary.

Meanwhile in Telford & Wrekin, there were 2,055 applications for pre-school children to join reception and of those, 95 per cent were accepted into their first choice, and 98 per cent were accepted into one their four preferred options.

Good news

Councillor Shirley Reynolds, Telford & Wrekin Council’s Cabinet Member for Employment, Education and Lifelong Learning, said: “As far as reception places go, we have a very good news story.

"These figures compare very favourably with last year’s figures, when 96 per cent were offered a preferred school and 95 per cent were offered their first preference."

She said the council also received a record number of applications for secondary school places this year.

"We received 2,289 applications for secondary school places this year with almost 90 per cent of pupils being allocated their first or second preference," she added.

"This has been an unprecedented year. In our borough, we have a lot of schools relatively close to each other. This gives parents greater options with their preferences so it is very pleasing that almost 90 per cent of first or second preferences can be met.

"Our secondary schools are popular and this is reflected in the preferences expressed by parents."