Majority of parents get first choice primary school choice in Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire County Council has today (Wednesday, 16 April) contacted 8,980 parents to let them know which school their son or daughter is to attend from September which is 91.3 per cent of parents getting a place at their preferred school.

Of the remainder, 573 have gained a place at another of their choices, with 206 being offered a place at a school they didn’t choose. Last September (2013), 218 children in Nottinghamshire went to a school their parent didn’t choose.

The County Council said it had done all it could to ensure parents send their child to a school they wanted.

John Slater, service director for education standards at the County Council, said: “The situation as a whole continues to be encouraging as the majority of parents will be getting a school for which they made a choice.

“I am very happy that every child in Nottinghamshire, whose parents applied within the deadline date, will have a primary school place in September 2014.”

Mr Slater added: “As an authority we are not complacent as we are aware of the pressures within the system and the increasing number of children coming through. We are already making plans to deal with such pressures in the years to come.”

The council is investing nearly £37m until 2016/17 expanding and upgrading schools across the county to meet demand arising from the natural increase in the county’s birth rates, subject to Basic Need funding from central government.

Around 900 more primary places are planned at 14 county schools for this coming September which equates to approximately 200 extra places for reception year children across Nottinghamshire. Availability of these extra places is subject to planning approval and uninterrupted building schedules.

For September 2013 a total of 1,210 extra places were created across 15 Nottinghamshire schools.

Mr Slater added: “There are particular ‘pinch points’ across the county in terms of seeing a rapid increase in the number of primary aged children, but the Council is responding in terms of planning for the additional places it is creating. However, these areas may not remain consistent from year to year as parental preferences change.”

Parents have right to appeal about their child’s school place and all appeals are wholly independent.