A record-breaking 99% of children in Walsall offered a place at one of their preferred primary schools

Tuesday, 16 April 2024 10:39

Today, Tuesday 16 April 2024, parents in the borough will receive notification of the school where their child will start Reception this September.

3319 applications were submitted on time before the deadline in January this year, and all of those have been offered a school place for September 2024.

A record-breaking 3285 children (99% of applications) have been offered one of their top three preferences.

• 3170 children (95.5%) have been offered their first preference,

• 107 (3.2%) their second preference, and

• 7 (0.2%) their third preference.

Sharon Kelly, Director of Access and Inclusion for Children’s Services at Walsall Council, said, “We’re really delighted that more children than ever before will be starting school at one of their top three preferences this September.

“The council has worked together with schools and families to remind parents the importance of getting applications in on time, and to now see the benefits of this in the data is just fantastic.

“99% of children whose application was submitted on time will be going to one of their preferred schools, and just over 95% of those children will be going to their first preference.

“A big thank you to everyone that has been involved with achieving such great outcomes for children and families in Walsall, and I wish all the children starting school this September the very best with their school journey.”

Of the 35 children in Walsall not offered one of their preferred schools, 29 of these applicants had expressed a preference for only one school. Walsall Council always advises applicants to utilise all three preferences and also recommends that all families contact their preferred schools before applying.

The entire primary schools admissions process is now online, so parents can view their results by logging into Walsall Council’s School Admissions Portal on the school admissions pages of the council website.

The council will also be sending emails to the families of all those children who submitted on time applications to confirm their school allocation.