Cornwall Council says it is one of the best performing councils in the country in ensuring that Year 6 primary school children in Cornwall will be going to the secondary school they want to attend in September 2016, with 98% of pupils being allocated their first preference school. 

The Council received 5,244 on-time applications for secondary school places in Cornwall for September 2016, with 5,178 (98.74 %) of pupils being allocated a place at their first choice of school, and 5,236 (99.85% ) being allocated a place in one of their three choices of schools.

This means that only 66 children failed to get a place in their first preference school, all of whom have been allocated a place in either their second or third preference school.

This is a stronger performance than last year when 97.85% of 4,975 children were allocated a place in their first choice of school, with 99.34% allocated a place in one of their three preferences.

There remains concern at the council over pupil places in primary schools being able to meet demand as numbers of children in Cornwall continue to increase. The current primary pressures are expected to start affecting secondary schools from 2018 onwards and the Council is working to mitigate this with capital funding for new schools / school places.

There are currently four over subscribed secondary schools in Cornwall, with the remaining 27 schools all admitting all of their first preference applicants. 

The Council’s School Admissions Team has received 222 late applications so far this year, with further late applications expected in the next few weeks.

Andrew Wallis, the council’s cabinet member for children, said he welcomed the high number of children in Cornwall who would be attending their first preference secondary school and praised the hard work of the school admissions team.

’We know that waiting for confirmation of secondary school places is an anxious time for both parents and carers and children and I am delighted that more than 99% of children in Cornwall will be going to their preferred secondary school in September,’ he said.