Thousands of children secure preferred secondary school places in Walsall

Children up and down the country are today finding out which secondary school they have been allocated for the 2024/25 academic year.

In Walsall, 3,929 applications were received on time.

It was the same number of applications that were received in 2023 and continues to be the highest number ever received.

Of those applications, 3,560 applicants – or 90.6 per cent – received one of their top three preferences.

Every applicant who applied on time has been offered a place at a secondary school for September.

Parents and carers can express preferences for up to five schools and 3,649 children received an offer of a place at one of their preferred schools.

Councillor Mark Statham, portfolio holder for education and skills at Walsall Council, said: “This is an exciting day for young people and their families in Walsall, and the council has worked closely with secondary schools to offer children places in their preferred schools.

“We always encourage families to submit school applications on time, and this year’s figures are on par with last year in terms of the record number of on-time applications received.

“There were 280 (7.1 per cent) families who were allocated a place at an alternative school rather than at one of their preferred schools. Of these, 107 families had only included one preference on their application form.

“Putting down only one school does not increase your chances of getting a place at that school.

"We strongly recommend 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.

“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 every success for the future.”

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.