CHILDREN in Worcestershire will be allocated secondary school places today but more than 700 will miss out on their first choice.

Worcestershire County Council has announced 88 per cent of the 6,259 applications will head to their desired destination in September with every child offered a place somewhere.

A total of 5,512 children got handed their first choice, up from 5,363 the year before, but with more children to accommodate, the percentage is slightly down from 89 getting into where they wanted.

Councillor Marcus Hart, cabinet member with responsibility for education and skills, said: “We aim to make the transition to secondary school as smooth as possible. 

"It is fantastic that so many of Worcestershire’s children will be starting secondary school in one of their preferred schools in September.”

HOW CAN I FIND OUT MY CHILD'S ALLOCATION?

99 per cent of this year’s applications were made online by visiting the council’s website.

School place offers are available to view via logging on to your account. An email will be sent when there is an update.

MY CHILD DIDN'T GET THEIR FIRST CHOICE - WHY?

Guidance on the Worcestershire County Council website states: "In general terms, your application is likely to have been refused on one of the following grounds;

a) the total number of applications for the school exceeded the published maximum number of pupils to be admitted to the school, and the application was not high enough on the oversubscription

criteria to be granted one of the available places at the school, and admitting further pupils would prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources.

This could be for a number of reasons, for including:

• The physical constraints of the class or school means that additional children cannot be accommodated.

• The teaching organisation is such that admitting any additional pupils would detract from the provision of efficient education.

• The children who are already in the school may include a number of children with Special Educational Needs or those identified as Vulnerable Learners which could mean that the school’s available resources do not allow for the admission of additional children.

b) the application was received late (after October 31, 2020) and did not meet the requirements of the Late Applications Policy.

I'M NOT HAPPY - HOW DO I APPEAL?

By visiting www.worcestershire.gov.uk/schooladmissions and downloading the Appeals Information Document.

  • Did your child get the place they/you wanted?

If you missed out do you believe the decision has been made fairly?

Let us know about your experiences - comment below or email: andy.mitchell@newsquest.co.uk