Cheshire East Council has worked with the borough’s schools to offer first preference places for more than 93 per cent of secondary school applicants this year.
This is 9.63 per cent better than the 2016 national average of 84.1 per cent. In total, 97.73 per cent of Cheshire East residents are being offered a place at a school of their choice for September 2017.
The number of applications received for school places in Cheshire East remains high in 2017, with a total of 4,866 applications. These included 3,877 from Cheshire East residents.
Due to a high number of applications in the north of the borough, a decision was taken to request admission to some schools above the published admission number to ensure that local children could be offered a school place within a reasonable distance. The local authority will make additional resources available to schools to meet the needs of children following the ‘accept and decline’ process.
For other schools, the decision to admit above the published admission number was made on the basis that the school had existing accommodation that could be used or that class organisation allowed for the admission of more children for this year.
Councillor Liz Durham, Cheshire East Council cabinet member for children and families, said: “Our schools in Cheshire East have a well-deserved reputation for excellence, with 95.1 per cent rated good or outstanding by Ofsted. This leads to a significant number of applications from outside the borough.
“Because of this, and our desire to offer parents places in a local school of their choice, extra resources are being made available to make this possible.”
Councillor Rachel Bailey, leader of Cheshire East Council, said: “To be able to say to such a high proportion of parents that they have been given their first choice of school for their child is further recognition of our first-class education service in Cheshire East. I believe our team have reached this phenomenal achievement in a challenging landscape.
“We know that access to a school of choice is an important issue for families and our record demonstrates, once again, that Cheshire East is a great place to live and to learn.”
The local authority is in the process of reviewing school capacity across the borough, due to housing developments and the increasing demand for places in some areas. Details of any proposals will be published on the admissions website.
● Further information on secondary school place decisions for September 2017 is available on the council’s website at:
http://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/schools/admissions/september-2017-allocations.aspx
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