Less than half get in at first-choice school

MORE than half of parents didn’t get their first choice of a place at one Cheshire school this year.

Exclusive figures show just 44% of those who put St Martin’s Academy Chester, in Cheshire West and Chester, as their first choice primary secured a place for this September.

The school had 2.3 first preference applications for each of the 23 places offered – 52 in total.

Of those who put the school as their first pick, only 23 were successful.

Including second and third preferences, there were 6.3 applications for each offered place, but no one who put the school as a second or third choice secured a place.

Pewithall School, in Halton, was the next hardest primary to get into locally, with just 52% of those who put it as a first preference getting a place.

There were 1.9 first preferences for the school, a total of 56, for each of its 30 places offered.

King’s Leadership Academy Warrington was the hardest secondary school to secure a place at locally.

The school had 1.4 first preferences for each of the 160 places offered, with just 70% of those who put the school as their first choice getting a place.

Overall, the secondary school was put down as a preference 482 times. However, no second or third preferences were successful.

Shavington Academy, in Cheshire East, saw 237 first preferences for 178 places offered – 1.3 per place – with just 70% of parents who put it as a first choice being offered a place.

With children returning to school for the new year, applications for places for those set 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% of those who put it as a first preference secured a place in 2021.

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.