Hundreds miss out on preferred schools choices

AMANDA CHADDERTON

HUNDREDS of parents in Oldham missed out on their first choice of secondary school for their child this year, with 408 failing to even get one of their top three preferences.

Parents discovered this week which secondary school their child had been given a place to attend, with 73 per cent (2,313 out of 3,169 applications) being offered their first choice.

The figure is significantly lower than previous years, with 79 per cent gaining their first-choice school last year, down from 81 per cent in 2015.

No child which applied on time for a school place has failed to have been allocated a school. However, 403 children did not receive a place at one of their top three preferred schools.

Amanda Chadderton, Cabinet Member for Education and Early Years, said: "We had 3,169 children to find secondary school places for this year. That's almost 100 more places than last year.

"We have a growing population and more children each year to provide an education for, but everyone who applied on time this year got a place at a secondary school.

"We appreciate that gaining a place at the preferred school is important to our young people and their families. We are working very hard to ensure even more children secure a place at their desired school in the future.

"Work is also ongoing to increase capacity at a number of secondary schools across the borough."

Official figures will not be released by the Department of Education until June. However, a partial survey of local authorities puts Oldham as having one of the lowest rates of successful first-choice school applications.

The survey of 41 councils found that only Birmingham had a lower rate of first-choice acceptance at 68.6 per cent.

Other areas with a similar rate to Oldham included Bristol (74 per cent), Sandwell (75 per cent) and Reading (78 per cent).

Rochdale recorded a significantly higher figure of 94 per cent, as did Wigan at 96 per cent.

A Department for Education spokesman said: "The proportion of parents getting a place at their first-choice school remains stable, and last year almost all parents got an offer at one of their top-three preferred schools."

But Shadow education minister Angela Rayner MP, who also represents Ashton-under-Lyne and Failsworth, described the system as "broken".

"The Tories' unjustified fixation with free schools means new schools are opening in areas which do not need them.

"Just last week the National Audit Office reported that the Government are not doing enough to ensure all parents can exercise choice when selecting the right school."