The secondary school years will see young people really knuckle down, earning important qualifications like their GCSEs and charting a course for their lives beyond school.
That’s why it’s so important that the secondary school they attend is a good fit for them, and for your family. But as this year’s Year 6 leavers enter their final weeks of primary school, not all will necessarily be heading off to to the secondary school their parents might have hoped after the summer break.
Earlier this month, the Government released its latest figures on state school applications and offers for the upcoming 2025/26 school year, which show how many children across England received an offer from their family’s first choice of primary or secondary school - as well as how many missed out on any of their back-up options.
Nationwide, some 83.5% of children got an offer from their family’s first choice of secondary school for the coming year. This means that 16.5% were either offered a place at another preferred school listed by their parents, or in some cases, another school altogether. With about 597,670 families applying for a place at a state-funded secondary school this year, that means nearly 100 thousand children missed out on that top pick.
If your child didn’t get a place at your first choice of school, it’s probably not down to anything you or your child did. The Government says that there can be all sorts of reasons, from local school quality, to travel patterns, to the demand for school places in your area. All of these largely come down to where you live.
We’ve taken a look at secondary school offers across each of the North East’s local authority areas, to give families some idea of their community’s school acceptance rates. Each council area has been ranked based on the percentage of primary school leavers offered a spot in their family’s first choice of secondary school - with the proportion of children offered a place in at least one of their chosen options tacked on too.
Here they are, from those with the highest first-choice offer rates, to those with the lowest:
1. Northumberland
In Northumberland, a huge 96.1% of new secondary school starters were offered a place at their first choice of school for the upcoming year. Overall, 98.8% received an offer from at least one of the preferred schools they had selected. | Calum Smith/Adobe Stock
2. Stockton-on-Tees
In Stockton-on-Tees, 95.4% of new secondary school starters were offered a place at their first choice of school for the upcoming year. Overall, 99.2% received an offer from at least one of the preferred schools they had selected. | nuttawutnuy/Adobe Stock
3. Sunderland
In Sunderland, 95.1% of new secondary school starters were offered a place at their first choice of school for the upcoming year. Overall, 99% received an offer from at least one of the preferred schools they had selected. | Robin/Adobe Stock
4. Durham
In County Durham, 94.1% of new secondary school starters were offered a place at their first choice of school for the upcoming year. Overall, 98.5% received an offer from at least one of the preferred schools they had selected. | greenbriar52/Adobe Stock