Majority of Kingston children applying for secondary school get top preferences

Yesterday (1 March), Kingston Council made the initial allocation of Year 7 offers for this September. This year, the parents and carers of 1,913 children applied for a place – compared with 1,894 last year.

70% have been offered a place at their first choice secondary school, compared to last year’s figure of 64%. In addition 89% have been offered one of their top three preferences (85% last year) and 94% have received one of their stated preferences (92% last year).

Currently there are 97 children without an offer of a secondary school place, compared with 158 at this time last year. Those 97 include 16 children whose parents and carers applied after the closing date.

Councillor Diane White, Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services including Education, said: 

“Our schools are deservedly popular as they offer excellent, inclusive education for local children, so demand for them is understandably high.

“To maximise the number of offers made on 1 March, we worked with a number of schools to offer additional places on National Offer Day in the expectation they will return to their published admission numbers by September. This approach has been taken to reduce uncertainty for parents and carers as much as possible.”

"I know that this will be an anxious time for those children and their families who are yet to receive an offer. Parents and carers are advised to carefully read the notes which explain what to do next. We know from experience that sufficient places will become available to be re-offered to those on the waiting lists from 28 March onwards.

“The number of unplaced children is a reminder of the need to ensure that there are enough permanent school places in the borough. Although it won’t provide places for children this year, the Diocese of Southwark’s statutory proposal to establish a six-form entry secondary school in the borough in September 2025 was approved by the Council last year. This means that, subject to planning permission, there will be greater certainty for local parents in the longer term. In the meantime, I am very grateful to schools for enabling additional places to be offered.”

Councillor White also extended her thanks to all the schools in the borough for their work over the past two years in the fight against Coronavirus. She added:

“This has been an especially challenging time for schools and I know that there has been a huge amount of work that has gone into making sure that children have remained safe and able to continue their education.”