Fewer pupils get first-choice school (From Oxford Mail)

Fewer pupils get first-choice school

5:46pm Monday 1st March 2010 in

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THE proportion of children securing a place at their first-choice schools has fallen, new figures have revealed.

Oxfordshire County Council said 87.6 per cent of children got their number one choice primary school, down from 89.6 last year.

And 88.5 per cent of youngsters received a place at their preferred secondary school, a drop of one per cent.

The council said a rise of almost 300 children in admissions was to blame.

Cabinet member for school improvement, Michael Waine, said: “The percentage of applicants receiving one of their top three choices at secondary and primary school is still very high.

“A lot of work has been carried out over the last year to create additional places in Oxford ready for this September.

“We’ve created an extra 338 primary places to enable us to offer a place to every on-time applicant from Oxfordshire.”

There were more than 13,200 applications for school places throughout the county.

All but three per cent got one of their top three choices at secondary level.