Schools
National Offer Day - more children than ever receive their preference of secondary school
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Wednesday 1 March 2023 is National Offer Day when children up and down the country find out which secondary school they have been allocated for the 2023/24 academic year.
Walsall Council has contacted thousands of parents and carers today, with the majority receiving the preferred secondary school choice for their child.
In the Borough of Walsall, 3,929 applications were received on time. This is an increase of 93 applications from last year’s figure and the highest number of applications ever received. Of those, 3,112 applicants (79.2%) received their first preference, 399 (10.2%) their second preference and 138 (3.5%) their third preference.
Every applicant who applied on time has been offered a place at a school for September 2023. Parents and carers are able to express preferences for up to five schools and more children than ever (3,713) received an offer of a place at one of their preferred schools.
“ We are pleased that by working with our secondary schools and increasing their capacities, in some cases through approval of capital funding for building works, we have been able to offer more children their preferred schools, even though there was a higher demand for places. The Council has worked closely with Walsall families to encourage more on time applications being submitted and this was well received.
I offer my thanks, as always, to our schools for their commitment and support and would take this opportunity to wish all the children who start their secondary education in September 2023 every success for the future. “
There were 216 (5.5%) families who were allocated a place at an alternative school rather than at one of their preferred schools. Of these, 91 families had only included one preference on their application form.
Councillor Statham added, “Putting down only one school doesn’t increase your chances of getting a place at that school. We have always strongly recommended that all families contact their preferred schools before submitting an application, use all five preferences on their application form and make sure they get their applications in on time.”
The application process for school places is now entirely online, meaning parents can view their results on offer day by logging into Walsall Council’s School Admissions Portal. The Council will also be sending emails to the families of all those children who submitted on time applications today to confirm their school allocation.
Notes to editor
School admissions web page - Apply for a secondary school place | Walsall Council
Admissions portal - https://admissions.walsall.gov.uk/CitizenPortal/en
· Walsall Council allows up to five preferences for secondary school applications.
· Secondary school offer numbers and percentages (as of 1 March 2023) in the table below shows the outcomes from the 2023 secondary admission rounds. Please note that this data is a snapshot of the position at the time the offers were made on 1 March 2023 and is subject to change throughout the admission round.
The data relates to on-time applications from Walsall residents only, however, all children whose parents applied prior to the offer date have been offered a place.
Table below show September 2023 data:
Offers %*
Offered 1st preference 3112 79.2%
Offered 2nd preference 399 10.2%
Offered 3rd preference 138 3.5%
Offered one of their top three preferences 3649 92.9%
Offered any preference 3713 94.5%
Not offered any preferred school and allocated an alternative 216 5.5%
Total Walsall on-time applications 3929
Table below show September 2022 data:
Offers %*
Offered 1st preference 3055 79.6%
Offered 2nd preference 400 10.4%
Offered 3rd preference 122 3.2%
Offered one of their top three preferences 3577 93.2%
Offered any preference 3628 94.6%
Not offered any preferred school and allocated an alternative 208 5.4%
Total Walsall on-time applications 3836
*- % rounding factor - may not add up to 100%
Ends
