England primary schools are in the limelight again. Thousands of pupils have failed to get admitted to their first choice in England primary school slotsThe rate was higher in cities such as London and Birmingham.
September’s primary school admission in England has seen thousands of families disappointed as thousands of pupils missed their preferred first choice for primary schools they had selected. Families received emails detailing which schools their children had been selected on Thursday.
As the country continues with coronavirus lockdowns, the government was still optimistic the pandemic will be gone by September and schools will be ready for the reopening.
England primary schools selection process
The demand for primary schools located in London, Birmingham and other urban regions across the country was high and meant the rate of admission for their first choice school was significantly lower compared to last year. London, for instance, only had 85 percent of pupils admitted to their first choice, a drop of 1 percent from last year for the 97,300 pupils who had applied.
5000 pupils who had applied for all their three choices being in London, also failed to secure a single slot in their top three schools.
Birmingham also saw a drop of students admitted to their first choice primary school drop from 89 percent last year to 88 this year for the 14,400 pupils who had applied in the region.
Admission appeal hearings
The Department of education provided guidelines for families who would like to appeal the selection made by the department. They indicated that they would relax rules to allow these families to access hearings for their children amid the coronavirus pandemic. The guidelines also indicated that, for those wishing to appeal the decision of the selections, they will no longer be required to attend in person.
The problem of students not getting their first choice schools was also spread in other parts of the country with Kent county only admitting 88 percent to first choice and 97 percent to their top 3 schools for the 18,000 students who applied in the county.
The problem continued in York where the number of students admitted to first-choice schools fell from 96 percent to 94 percent this year. In neighboring Wokingham, only 85 percent of pupils got into their first-choice schools. The rest of the regions also had these problems, leaving parents frustrated by the admission process.
In hindsight, while many argue that the system’s main emphasis was on grades that would end up destroying the UK education system, Ofsted has denied that claim and maintain this is the way the best system available. So, parents can just be comforted with the fact that the top schools may not be the top-rated at all.
