90% of Sunderland students offered place at first choice secondary school

Local authorities across the country have released figures on how many students have gained a school place of their parents’ choosing.

In Sunderland, 90% of applicants have been offered their first choice place and 97% of them have got one of their three preferences for the coming academic year.

More than 5,000 children in County Durham have received a place at one of their chosen secondary schools for September 2017.

Parents of 5,088 soon to be Year 7 pupils have received offers for the forthcoming academic year, with 98.3% of them given one of their preferred choices.

Coun Ossie Johnson, Durham County Council’s cabinet member for children and young people’s services, said: “We know that for parents the decision of where to send their children is a big one and so we are delighted to be able to offer so many of them their first choice schools.

“In our county we benefit from many schools with superb facilities and dedicated, talented staff, and we hope that wherever pupils study they will be happy and successful.”

Of the 5,088 applications made, 4,849 pupils, 95.3%, have been offered their first choice school, 129 children, 2.5%, their second choice, and 26, 0.5%, their third choice.

Only 84 children were not able to be offered a place at one of their three preferred schools, but have been offered a place at another school as close to their home as possible.

Nationally, parents in many parts of the country are finding it tougher to get their child into their first-choice secondary school than they were a year ago.

In just 12 months, more than half of the nation’s towns and counties have seen a fall in the proportions of 11-year-olds winning a place at their first choice.

The situation has also become tougher over the past five years, with two-thirds of local authorities witnessing a drop in the percentages of pupils gaining any of their preferred schools.