How parents fared in bid for chosen school places

Two-fifths of parents didn’t get their first choice of a place at one Bath school this year.

Figures show just 59 per cent of those who put St John’s Church of England Primary School, in Bath and North East Somerset, as their first choice primary secured a place for this September.

The school had 1.5 first preference applications for each of the 30 places offered - 44 in total. Of those who put the school as their first pick, only 26 were successful.

Including second and third preferences, there were 3.2 applica

tions for each offered place, with four second preferences and no third preferences getting a place.

St Keyna was the next hardest primary school to get into locally, with just 67 per cent of those who put it as a first preference getting a place.

There were around 1.3 first preferences for the school, a total of 39, for each of its 29 places offered.

Norton Hill Academy was the hardest secondary school to secure a place at locally.

The school had 1.5 first preferences for each of the 238 places offered, with just 67 per cent of those who put the school as their first choice getting a place.

Overall, the secondary school was put down as a preference 511 times, with four second and no third preferences being successful.

Hayesfield Girls’ School saw 308 first preferences for 223 places offered - almost 1.4 per place - with 70 per cent of parents who put it as a first choice being offered a place.

With children now returning to school for this year, applications for places for those due to start primary or secondary school next September are starting to open.

The application deadline for applying for a secondary place is October 31, while it is January 15, 2022, for primary applications.

Beaumont Primary School in Croydon is the toughest primary school in England to get a place at.

Just 23 per cent of those who put it as a first preference secured a place in 2021.

That was down from a 26 per cent success rate in 2020, when it was also the toughest primary to get into.

It had 133 first preferences - 4.4 for each of the 30 places offered and 14.5 preferences per place in total.

The Royal School in Wolverhampton was the hardest secondary school to get into, with just 10 per cent of those who put it as a first preference getting a place.

Competition has also got tougher compared to 2020, when 12 per cent of first preferences secured a place.

There were 8.4 first preferences, a total of 219, for each of its 26 places offered.

Overall there were 34.2 preferences for each place for children starting this September.

The data from the Department for Education is based on figures from National Offers Day, so data held directly by individual schools may differ, for example, because late applications were included.