Ninety per cent of West Berkshire pupils offered place at first choice secondary school

Figure down on last year

MORE than 90 per cent of Year 6 pupils in West Berkshire have been offered a place at their preferred secondary school, new figures show.

Of the 1680 applications for secondary school admissions received by West Berkshire Council this year, 1526 (90.7 per cent) pupils received their first choice.

Almost 98 per cent of youngsters were offered a place at one of their three preferred schools.

The number of those offered their preferred choice is down from last year, however, when 92 per cent of children were given a place at their first choice school.

The number of applications has increased since 2016 when 1,661 applied for a secondary school place in West Berkshire.

Cllr Lynne Doherty, West Berkshire's Executive Member for Education services, said: "I'm really pleased that once again, we're able to tell the vast majority of our pupils that they have a place in their chosen school.

“Getting people into their favourite school is a complex task which fluctuates each year with demand. Improving educational attainment is one of our priorities and it's very important to have as many children happy and settled within their chosen schools as possible.

“I wish those pupils every success as they start secondary school in September."

This year most parents again chose to apply online with 89.7 per cent of applications completed through the West Berkshire Council website - up from 88.2 per cent last year and 86.4 per cent in 2014.

While the vast majority of children are given a preferred place in West Berkshire each year, there is an appeals process for those who do not.