Nine in ten children offered first choice school place in Rotherham

Nine in ten children have been offered their first choice Secondary School place

Nine in ten children will start at their first choice Secondary School in September 2023, as Rotherham Council continues to outperform most of the UK by providing pupils with their preferred place.

Today (Wednesday 1 March 2023) is National Offer Day, when families with year six children discover which secondary school their child has been offered a place at from September 2023.
 
In total, over 3,500 school place offers have been made to pupils in Rotherham – 3,255 (90%) of which were for their first preference school (93% in 2022). In all, 96% of pupils in Rotherham have been offered a place at one of their three preferred schools this year (97.5% in 2022).
 
Nationally, just 83.3% of pupils were offered their first-choice secondary school place last year and the proportion of pupils offered one of their preferences was 95.8% (source: Department for Education). It's anticipated that performance will fall across the country this year as a result of a spike in the birth rate 11 years ago, which is expected to lead to a record number of applications for children looking to start year seven in September. 
 
The 129 pupils (4%) in Rotherham who were not offered one of their three preferences have all been allocated either their catchment area school or nearest school to home with a place available. No schools in Rotherham refused applications received for children living in the catchment area or sibling category children.
 
The Council works hard, with the support of local schools to ensure places are keeping pace with demand in line with birth rates, residential developments and other factors.
 
In recent years additional secondary school places have been created at Wickersley (200 through school places), St Bernard’s (75), Wales (150), Wath (150) and Rawmarsh (150). From 2023 onwards, additional places have also been created at Aston Academy (150 places) and, aligned to catchment area demand in future, the Council’s Cabinet approved an additional 150 place expansion to Brinsworth Academy.
 
Councillor Victoria Cusworth, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services at Rotherham Council said: "National Offer Day can be a stressful time for parents, carers and pupils, as they wait anxiously to see if they have been allocated their preferred place. I am really pleased that Rotherham is maintaining its position as a top performer in the country thanks to our investment in the creation of additional school places in recent years.
 
“Our success doesn’t happen by accident. It is the culmination of a huge amount of hard work by our school place planners, who closely monitor the latest population statistics and demand. And our excellent working relationship with school and academy leaders across the borough has helped to ensure we have the right school places in the right locations at the right time."
 
Any parents or carers who are not happy with the allocation for their child has the right of appeal, via an independent appeal panel, for a place in their preferred school(s).

Click here if you have an enquiry about school admissions.

Click here for more inforamtion about making a school admission appeal.

 

Published: 1st March 2023