Shropshire Council near top of West Midlands table for primary and secondary school placements
Shropshire Council is one of the top councils for first preference and preferred school placements in the West Midlands, latest figures from the Department for Education show.
Figures released this week for secondary and primary applications and offers statistics place Shropshire near the top of the West Midlands table.
The secondary and primary school applications and offers statistics provide the number of applications and offers made for secondary and primary school entry in September 2023, and the proportion which received preferred offers.
For secondary schools, Shropshire Council is ranked third in the West Midlands, achieving 96.5% of offers for a preferred secondary school, with 89.7% securing their first preference.
These figures compare well with, and are better than, the England averages of 95.6% and 82.6%, and the West Midlands averages of 95.0% and 80.2%, respectively.
They follow a challenging year when a national growth in the numbers of pupils transferring to secondary school this September saw a record number of applications for places.
For primary school placements Shropshire Council also took second place in the West Midlands table, achieving 99.0% of offers for a preferred school, with 95.7% achieving first preference for their primary school.
These figures are better than the England averages of 98.6% and 92.5%, and the West Midlands averages of 98.6% and 93.1%, respectively.
Kirstie Hurst-Knight, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for children and education, said:
“This is great news. I am delighted that we continue to rank so highly in terms of first preferences met for primary and secondary school applications compared with other councils in the region. It has been a particularly challenging year for secondary applications, given the exceptionally large numbers of children transferring from primary schools this year.
“The tremendous efforts of our senior secondary school leaders in accommodating such large numbers this year has made this possible and so our thanks are extended to them.
“Our primary school ranking also achieved an excellent result, coming second.
“Shropshire Council has worked hard over many years to ensure that as many children as possible are able to attend their preferred school. The council’s long-term strategy, initiated in 2016, of securing the right number of school places, in the right locations and at the right time, has been highly successful and has contributed to these results.
“We’re currently launching another review which will lead to the production of the next five-to-ten-year plan for additional places in mainstream, specialist and early years provision to ensure that we maintain and even improve on our current position in the years ahead.
“This links to the commitment in the Shropshire Plan to providing more places for the county’s children and young including those with specialised needs.
“This is a fantastic achievement, and I would like to thank our school admissions team and everyone else involved in helping make this happen.”
