Black Country secondary school places: One in five miss out on chosen school
One in five youngsters across the Black Country have failed to land a place at their preferred choice of secondary school.
In Sandwell, a quarter of Year 7 children missed out on their top choice of secondary school – some 942 youngsters – according to figures by the Department for Education.
The figures show that in Walsall, 77.6 per cent of applicants have been allocated a place to start their preferred school in September, while in Dudley it was 84.3 per cent and in Wolverhampton, 82.6 per cent.
In Staffordshire, 94 per cent of children were allocated a place at their first choice school, representing a slight fall on last year's figure of 94.8 per cent.
The national average was 84.2 per cent. In total, 2,560 youngsters in the Black Country did not get into their number one choice of school. It comes as local authorities battle against a chronic shortage of school places.
Parents across the country found out whether their children had got into their secondary school of choice yesterday. All parents and guardians of children in their final year of primary school submit their preferred pick each September.
Dudley North MP Ian Austin warned the figures could continue to rise amid mounting pressure on school places, with 17 per cent of schools across the region either at or above capacity.
"Well-run, oversubscribed and financially sound schools should be able to borrow what they need to expand and then pay the money back with the revenue the extra pupils would bring," said Mr Austin.
Walsall saw 654 children failing to land their preferred place.
Council leader Councillor Mike Bird said: "We have to make sure that we improve the standards of all schools in the borough to ensure people have a better choice of high quality schools."
In Wolverhampton, 458 youngsters did not get their preferred choice of school, while 95 per cent of them were allocated a place at one of their selections.
The authority's education chief, Councillor Claire Darke, said: "We have a lot of extremely popular schools and therefore there will always be a small number of pupils who don't get a place at a preferred school."
Parents who disagree with decisions can launch an appeal with their local authority.
