The vast majority of County Durham children have been given their preferred primary school place.
The deadline for applying for primary school places for September was 15th January 2019 and on 16th April Durham County Council sent out its offers to parents.
The council was pleased to announce that 95% of the children concerned had got a place at their preferred primary school.
Of the 5,165 applications received, 4,924 children have been offered a place at their first- choice school. 181 children have received a place at their second-preference school and 26 have been allocated a place at their third-choice school.
Only 35 children have not got a place at one of their top three schools, but Durham County Council have stressed that all children have received a school place somewhere in the county.
Parents who applied online were sent an email on the 16th while those who applied by other means were posted a letter.
Durham County Council’s head of education and skills, Richard Crane, said, “For many parents, it can be a daunting time when their sons or daughters are starting school so we are pleased to be able to offer so many children their first choice.”
For more information about primary school places in County Durham, please go to http://www.durham.gov.uk/article/2191/Primary-school-places.
This information includes guidance on how to respond to offers, what to do if you are unhappy about the school place your child has got, and what to do if you haven’t yet applied for a school place.
The allocation of first-choice places in County Durham compares well to the situation in other parts of the country. In London, 85.5% of children received a place at their first-choice school, with the competition for places most intense in wealthy Kensington and Chelsea, where only 66% of kids got a place at their preferred school.
(Featured image courtesy of Dave Crosby from Flickr Creative Commons)
