Enough local school places for Plympton children

Parents will hear from March 1 about their school preferences

A Plymouth city councillor is delighted that enough secondary school places are available in Plympton after some children had to be bused out of the community a few years ago.

As many of 30 children from Plympton, a thriving part of Plymouth with 35,000 residents, were denied their school choices one year because the schools were full and they had to travel to other parts of the city for their education. It has been an ongoing concern of Cllr Patrick Nicholson (Ind, Plympton St Mary) ever since.

After asking the council’s cabinet member for education Cllr Sally Cresswell (Lab, Stoke) about school capacity in Plympton for September 2024 she has confirmed that almost all children in Plympton have been offered the school they prefer.

The vast majority of the 368 applications were for Heles School and Plympton Academy, with 59 spaces still available at the latter.

Cllr Nicholson said: “There has been insufficient capacity in the past, so it’s good to get that reassurance that 98 per cent have their first choice," he said.

“Occasionally there is a bulge in the school population which can cause issues, but it is something we need to be conscious of as there is new development planned for Plympton.”

He said the system is such that children who have siblings at school could sometimes take priority over local children.