Bradford Council says it has seen an increase in the number of families whose children have been offered a place at their first preference secondary school.
The council’s schools admissions team was able to offer almost 80 per cent of applicants a place at their first preference school, a slight rise on last year.
The figures have been released as part of National Offer Day - the day when Year 6 children across the country learn which secondary school they will attend for the 2023-2024 academic year.
This year 8,183 children applied for a secondary school place in the Bradford district by the deadline of 31st October. All of those who applied on time have been allocated a Year 7 place at one of the district’s secondary schools.
Of those, 6,534 children have been offered a place at their first preference school. This is an increase of 51 when compared to 2022 and is 79.85% of those who applied.
Almost 95% of families were offered a place at one of the schools they listed as their preferred options.
Bradford Council’s Admissions Team have sent emails to parents and carers who applied online confirming the outcome of their application. Parents and carers who did not apply online will be sent letters directly to their home address by post. Any parent or carer who applied online but indicated that they did not wish to receive an email will also be sent a letter. Parents who are expecting letters are asked not to contact the council before 6th March to allow time for their letters to arrive.
Councillor Imran Khan, Bradford Council’s portfolio holder for education, employment and skills, said: "It is pleasing that we have been able to offer more families a place at their first preference secondary school. We know how important it is to families to get their child into at school of their choice and we do our best to make this possible wherever we can.
“The council continues to work with our schools to make sure they have the capacity to meet demand for places.
“We look forward to welcoming our new secondary school children starting in September.”
In North Yorkshire, 89.84% secured their first preference with 96.4% of all families in the county who requested a school place receiving an offer from the council for one of their top three preferences of secondary school.
This year, 6,262 North Yorkshire pupils are transferring to secondary school.
Executive member for education, learning and skills, Cllr Annabel Wilkinson, said: “Once again, so many of our families have gained the first preference from their choice of schools, which is great news.”
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