Five hundred Wiltshire families fail to get first choice school

10.17.00am GMT Mon 1st Mar 2010

Almost 5,000 Wiltshire children will find out this week which secondary school they will be attending in September - and just 88% will be offered their first-choice school.

Offer letters are being posted out first class by Wiltshire Council (WC) today to all 4,840 Wiltshire residents who applied before the deadline, which was October 17, 2009.

96.8 percent of applicants have been given one of their preferred schools with 87.8 percent having received their first preference school. Of those who applied, more than 2050 or 42% were completed online.

Every applicant could name up to three preferences and about 150 have been refused a place at any of their preferences.

Secondary admissions are co-ordinated across county boundaries. Wiltshire's admissions team therefore deals with applications not only for all Wiltshire secondary schools (including the two grammar schools in Salisbury), but also with applications from Wiltshire residents to attend schools outside the county. 300 Wiltshire residents will be offered schools outside the county; about 140 children will come into Wiltshire schools from other areas.

Allocations are made by applying admission criteria, which are used to make offers if schools are oversubscribed. Wiltshire does not operate a lottery system.

Applicants have until Monday, March 15 to accept the offer they receive. After this date, applications received after the October deadline will be considered. There are 150 late applications awaiting consideration.

The right to an independent appeal is open to anyone who is not happy with the school they have been offered. Details of how to appeal can be obtained by phoning WC on 01225 713010.

Bryan Cash, education officer for school admissions, said: "I am pleased we have handled so many applications on time and such a high proportion of children are being offered their first choice school. My team has worked extremely hard since November to ensure we have effectively handled all applications."