Half of schools are too popular

More than half of Dudley borough's secondary schools do not have enough places to meet demand from parents clamouring to get their first choice for children joining next term, it was revealed today.

Thirteen out of 21 schools in the borough have received more applications than available places, leaving many disappointed.

Recent figures released by Dudley Council show 88 per cent of parents have got their first choice for this September compared with 91 per cent of pupils last year.

The council does not operate school catchment areas and parents are able to express a preference for any school in the borough.

The pressure on popular schools is also increased by applications from people living outside Dudley who are also able to request places in the borough.

Parents are asked to rank schools in order of preference. Priority for community school applications is then given to children who are in the care of the council, pupils with serious ongoing medical conditions, and youngsters with sibilings living at the same address who are already attending the prefered school.

Dudley Council spokesman Chris Howes said: "There are enough school places for all pupils in the borough. We have a tried and tested process in place to allocate places to children moving up to secondary school."

The oversubscribed schools are Bishop Milner, Dormston, Earls High, High Arcal, Hillcrest, Holly Hall, Kingswinford, Redhill, Summerhill,Thorns, Windsor and Wordsley.