More Devon children get their first choice secondary

More Devon children have been offered a place at their first choice secondary school for this September.

97.6 per cent of the families who applied to Devon County Council have been offered their first choice school compared to 94 per cent for last year.

It means Devon County Council has bucked the downward trend in many parts of the country.

In all, 99.5 per cent of applicants were offered one of their three preferences compared with 97 per cent in 2015.

The county council received 6,706 applicants from Devon pupils for a place at secondary school in September.

Of these, 6,546 were allocated their first preference, 115 their second preference and 10 their third preference.

Devon’s Cabinet member for schools, James McInnes, said: Cllr James McInnes“I am very pleased that we have been able to increase the number of first preferences this year.

“It is also very gratifying that we have been able to accommodate nearly every child in one of their three preferred schools.

“This is particularly pleasing when many areas seem to be having real difficulties in accommodating students this year.

“It is a testament to the hard work of our admissions and school organisation teams and the partnership and cooperation we have received from the heads and governors of Devon’s secondary schools.

“These are obviously early statistics and are quite likely to improve even more before September as appeals are heard and other factors are taken into account, such as parents not taking up places they have been offered.”