95% of Cambridgeshire children get first-choice primary school

More children in Cambridgeshire are getting into their first-choice school.

A total of 6,822 applications were received for reception places at the region’s schools for September this year and almost 95 per cent of them were granted.

Another 247 were offered a place at their second preference school and 48 into their third choice. The figures are an increase on last year when 6,487 children were offered a place at their first-choice school. Only one per cent of children were not offered a place at one of their preferred schools.

Jonathan Lewis, service director for education, said: “The higher percentage of children getting a place at their first preference school is good news for families.

“This is due to the hard work of our place planning team and schools accommodating additional pupils where required, as well as the slightly lower number of applications for reception places this year. We always advise all applicants to use all three of their preferences when applying for a school place and to ensure that they include their catchment school as one of their preferences to give themselves the best chance of securing a place at a school close to their home.”