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Hear informed debate: Getting your child into the right secondary school
A FIFTH of all parents in parts of Yorkshire are missing out on a place at their chosen secondary school for their children. Listen to a Yorkshire Post audio programme.
In almost a third of the education authorities which provided figures to the Yorkshire Post, 20 per cent of 11-year-old pupils missed out on their first choice school.
The parents of around one in six children across the country are expected to discover they have not secured a place at their first choice school for the 2009-10 school year.
Experts are urging parents who have missed out to approach the appeal process as if it were "a driving test or examination".
Last year around 100,000 pupils did not get a place at their parents' preferred secondary school and a similar picture is expected nationally this year as children compete for places at the best state schools.
Hear education correspondent John Roberts debate the issues
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In Bradford, 78 per cent of parents succeeded with their first choice, while in Hull the figure was 79 per cent and in Calderdale it was 80 per cent.
Kirklees and Leeds both saw 85 per cent of parents successfully apply for their first choice school.
In Hull some parents living on the edge of the city apply to send their children to East Riding schools. The figure for Hull parents whose children were accepted into their first choice of schools within the city was much higher at 90 per cent.
Elsewhere in the country, figures show more than a third of children in parts of London have missed out on their parents' first choice.
Education campaigners branded the situation as "disgraceful".
The chairman of the York-based Campaign for a Real Education, Nick Seaton, said: "Four out of five families getting their children into their first choice school is not high enough. The figure needs to be 90 per cent or more.
"There needs to be more parental choice to allow more parents to get their children into the school they want. This shows that there are still not enough good schools out there. Successful schools need to be allowed to expand more to accept more pupils."
Matt Richards, of the schoolappeals.com website, said he had already received 120 calls and 60 e-mails yesterday morning from worried parents.
He said: "They should get in touch with an expert, or with their local authority and speak to the choice adviser, who no-one seems to know about, but are there to help.
"They need to start preparing for battle. They should approach this like a driving test or an examination, and spend time and money if necessary."
The new chief adjudicator for schools, Ian Craig, said parents unhappy with their allocation should appeal.
But Mr Craig stressed that families should not write off the school they had been offered if it was not their first choice, as sometimes schools' popularity could be based on an outdated reputation.
Parents in South Yorkshire enjoyed greater success than the national average at getting the school of their choice, as 90 per cent in Sheffield and 96 per cent in Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham were allocated their first choice. In Wakefield the figure was even higher at 97 per cent.
Although more than one in five parents in Bradford did miss out on their first choice school, the council's strategic director for children's services, Kath Tunstall, said she was pleased that more than 94 per cent of parents were still allocated a place in one of their preferred three schools.
Parents who got first choice
Bradford 78 per cent
Hull 79 per cent
Calderdale 80 per cent
Kirklees 85 per cent
Leeds 85 per cent
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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