This year 92 per cent of Lambeth parents and carers who applied to a secondary school in the borough have been offered a place at one of their preference schools starting this September.
On the day that parents and carers across London are told which secondary school their children have been offered places at, Lambeth Council has revealed that offers were made to 2,311 applicants this year, 1,486 of whom were offered their first preference. This meant that 64% of Lambeth children have been offered their first preference of secondary school.
The overall figures do not include pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan, as they apply through a separate process.
The co-ordinated school admissions process enables parents and carers to choose schools in Lambeth and in other boroughs. With parents/pupils able to choose any school, and so many good local schools to choose from, it is inevitable that unfortunately not all children will be able to be offered their first preference. Nevertheless, Lambeth continues to be able to offer the majority of parents and carers a school from their preferences and have enough year 7 places overall for residents to choose from.
Word from the Cabinet
Cllr Ben Kind, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: “Because of Government funding deals falling short, councils nationally are having to make important decisions
with their money. Schools are also facing similar financial pressures, due to falling birth rates, an unfair funding system, Brexit and other factors. Lambeth Council has been working closely with Lambeth’s schools to deliver a plan for managing the surplus pupil places in the Borough and as we move forward this will increasingly involve more challenging decisions for our communities.
“Despite these pressures, schools in Lambeth are managing to maintain excellent standards for their pupils and offer a place to every child who chooses to attend secondary school. I’m incredibly proud of all the hard work our schools put into National Offer Day as well as their everyday work. We are all expected to do more with less, and our schools are really rising to the challenge. I’m sure all the new students they welcome in September will have an excellent experience, as they learn, make friends, and take a step towards their future.”
The picture across London
Across London as a whole, 94 per cent of children have been offered a place at one of their preferred schools. Figures released today by the Pan London Admissions Board, the body with overall responsibility for the co-ordination of school admissions in the capital, show that 70.5 per cent of children applying to London schools got into their first preference school, a 0.79 per cent decrease on last year.
Overall, 90 per cent of London pupils were offered a place at one of their top three choices of secondary school.
