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 2,225 applicants this year, 1,426 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 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 Families, said: “Schools across Lambeth have worked incredibly hard to ensure every child has access to a good school place, despite the financial pressures they face. Fourteen years of central government cuts have left schools struggling with an unfair funding formula that does not reflect the needs of inner-city areas like ours.
“Falling birth rates and rising costs add further challenges, but our schools continue to provide high-quality education and ensure every family has a place for their child in secondary school.
“This success is down to the dedication of our brilliant teachers, school staff, and education leaders, who go above and beyond every day to support young people.
“Because of the hard work of our schools and education service, families no longer face the uncertainty of previous years, when some worried about whether their child would get an offer at all.
“Gone are the days when a family felt anxious about where their children might go to school and when a child’s future depended on whether they got an offer. Every child in Lambeth has the opportunity to thrive in school.
“We are also continuing to strengthen support for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), ensuring they get the right help as early as possible. From investment in SEND places to expanding our early intervention support, we are committed to making sure every child, whatever their needs, can succeed in mainstream education where possible and access specialist provision when necessary.
“As we welcome this new cohort of students in September, we remain committed to fighting for fairer school funding, championing Lambeth’s schools, and making sure every child in our borough has the best possible start to their secondary education.”
The picture across London
Across London as a whole, 94.8 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 71.6 per cent of children applying to London schools got into their first preference school, a 1.1 per cent increase on last year.
Overall, 90.5 per cent of London pupils were offered a place at one of their top three choices of secondary school.
