First choice secondary school offered to 71% of Newham pupils

The borough received 4,235 online and paper applications before the closing date of October 31 – rising from 4,015 last year.

Parents were able to list up to six schools, in order of preference, with a range of criteria used to determine the allocation of places ahead of today’s national offers day.

Overall, 95.54 per cent of pupils have been offered a place at one of their six preferred schools – higher than the London average of 93.88pc.

Newham was able to offer 71.43pc of applicants – or 3,285 pupils – their first choice school, with a further 15.77pc given a place at the second school on their list.

This is also higher than the London average, with 68.52pc of pupils across the capital offered their first choice school and 14pc their second choice.

The pupils who could not be offered places at any of their preferred schools have been allocated to attend the school closest to their home that still had places available, ensuring every child has somewhere to attend in September.

Cllr Quintin Peppiatt, cabinet member for children and young people, said: “Newham has one of the largest populations of young people compared to any of the other London boroughs and we continue to see increased number of pupils applying for our schools.

“Despite this, we have continued to ensure that the majority of our pupils are offered a place at the school of their choice. We are doing all we can to meet the growing demand for school places in Newham through expanding our secondary and primary schools.

“Our parents and teachers should be thanked for their hard work alongside our staff in ensuring that every Newham child has a school place.”

Included in the figures are 217 pupils who gained places at schools outside of the borough.

In addition, 175 non-Newham pupils gained places at Newham secondary schools, 38 of those because they had a sibling already attending the school.