Calls for random ballot as one in six miss out on first choice school

Some 16.5 per cent of 11-year-olds across the country - about one in six - did not get their first preference this year, up from 15.9 per cent in 2016. The last time the proportion was above 16 per cent was in 2010.

There are wide variations in the rate of pupils not getting their first choice of school across the country, as well as in Yorkshire, where the proportion varies between four and 26 per cent. An education charity says there is a £45,700 house premium to live near the best schools and has called for the use of random ballots to make admissions fairer.

Separate figures from the Department for Education also show one in 10 were not offered their first choice of primary school, an improvement from roughly one in nine (11.6 per cent) last year.

Applications to primary schools are falling, thanks to a drop in the birth rate since 2013, meaning a greater percentage of children are being offered a place at their first choice.

By contrast, applications to secondary schools have been rising steadily in recent years, prompted by a spike in births in the previous decade.

A total of 562,487 applications were made to secondary schools across England this year - the highest number since 2008.

Some 96.1 per cent of youngsters received an offer from any one of their preferred secondary schools, down slightly on 96.5 per cent in 2016.

But a child’s chances of receiving a first preference depended greatly on where they live.

The North East saw the highest proportion of first-choice offers for secondary schools - 90.9 per cent - just ahead of the South West. London had the lowest proportion at 68.2 per cent.

In Yorkshire, 12.1 per cent of children did not get their first choice of secondary school, with 4.2 per cent not getting any of their top three preferences.

The area where children were most likely to miss out on their first choice was Bradford, with 26.3 per cent not getting their first choice. East Riding of Yorkshire had the lowest rate, at just four per cent.

Bradford council says 266 more pupils in the city got their first choice compared with last year. The figure for first preference allocations in Bradford is affected by several schools using admissions processes including random allocation, fair banding, post codes bands and faith.

Coun Imran Khan, Executive Member for Education, Employment and Skills, said the increase came despite a rise in the number of applications.

He said: “From September almost nine out of ten pupils will be going to one of their first three choices of secondary school and 93 per cent have been allocated one of their five choices.

“We know that choosing a school for their child is one of the most important decisions a family can make. Bradford Council and schools do all they can to ensure parents have the best chance of getting into a school of their choice.

“Bradford Council is delivering a programme of secondary school expansions across the district based on the forecast demand for pupil places.

“As far as is possible the Council is co-ordinating this programme with the Department for Education’s plans for new Free Schools to ensure pupil places are created in areas where there is demand.”

Nationally, he number of applications for a primary school place in 2017 was 620,330, a drop of 3.3 per cent on the total for 2016.

A Department for Education spokesman said: “The vast majority of parents continue to secure a place at their first choice of school for their child, 86.9 per cent - with more than 95 per cent having received offers at one of their top three choices.

“There are already 1.8 million more children in good or outstanding schools than 2010 but we want to do more to ensure every child has access to a good school place.”

Sir Peter Lampl, Founder and Chairman of the Sutton Trust and Chairman of the Education Endowment Foundation, said: “Today’s figures show that your chance of going to your first choice of secondary school is affected by where you live.

“Our own research has highlighted a £45,700 house premium to live in the catchment area of the best schools.

“This is why we want to see more use of ballots in cities – where a proportion of places is allocated randomly – to make school admissions fairer.”