Nearly all Devon children get choice of primary school

More families' first choice accepted

Devon County Council's revealed the number of children allocated their first preference primary school place for the next school year has increased significantly.

For those who are not so lucky, the proportion of families being offered one of their three preferences also improved.

This year 7,232 applications for primary school places were made across the county. Just about everyone (99.6 per cent) got into one of their preferred three schools, meaning around 30 children will have to go somewhere which wasn't their families' choice.

And 97.7 per cent of the families who applied for a place in a county primary have got their first preference, up from 94.6 per cent last year. 

Altogether, 1.7 per cent were offered their second preference and 0.2 per cent their third preference.

The county council’s admissions team is now dealing with enquiries about the decisions.

Devon County Council’s head of education, Dawn Stabb, said: “We have been working hard to expand the number of places that are available and it is therefore very gratifying that we have been able to accommodate the vast majority of children in one of their three preferred schools. In fact the percentage of families who have been offered one of their three preferences is the highest ever.

“Because of the pandemic, our teams have been mostly working independently at home. Nevertheless they have managed a high number of applications and finalised the allocation of places ahead of the national deadline.

“Our forward planning has also meant the crisis has not had an impact on the building projects required to meet the demand for places"