Rise in pupils missing out on top-choice secondary school

ONE in three children in London has missed out on their first-choice secondary school, with coronavirus delays to admissions tests blamed.

Yesterday, 11-year-olds across England found out which secondary schools offered them a place to study from September.

In the capital, just 66 per cent of pupils received an offer from their most preferred school, compared with 68 per cent last year, according to data from the Pan London Admissions Board.

The fall is caused partly by delays to selective school tests due to Covid-19 disruption in the autumn term.

Families are normally informed of their child’s test score for a selective school before the admissions deadline, and can take this into account when making their applications. But this year, many grammar schools could not confirm the results until after the deadline due to the pandemic.

Across London’s 33 boroughs, secondary schools received 93,727 applications this year – a 0.4 per cent rise on last year. Hammersmith and Fulham had the lowest proportion of children getting their top choice at 57.5 per cent, and in Greenwich just 59.9 per cent secured their first preference.

A similar trend emerged in the rest of England, where there are early signs that fewer children are gaining places at their first choice school.

Figures from 30 councils show 17 saw a fall in the proportion of pupils getting their first preference, while 11 have seen a rise and two have seen no change. In Kent, only 69.7 per cent of children got their first preference, a fall on last year, while in Wokingham 71.3 per cent got their top choice. Kent County Council said it expected the number of firstchoice places to fall this year as parents selected their six preferred schools before knowing whether their child had passed the grammar school entry test.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said the pandemic had meant parents were sending their children to schools that they have never visited.

He said: “Schools have gone to great lengths to find solutions so that parents can make informed choices, but the reality is that in many instances families could be applying for schools they simply haven’t been able to visit in person.”