Over 97% of Sheffield students will be heading to one of their top three chosen secondary schools in September with over 90% being allocated their first choice – after places were allocated by the city council today.
Families across Sheffield received the news this morning of which secondary school their child will attend in the next academic year in September 2024.
Cllr Dawn Dale, Chair of the Education, Children and Families Committee, said: “It is fantastic to see the majority of children in Sheffield have been allocated their first preference school on national allocation day. I hope they are happy with their news and are looking forward to heading on to their new secondary school.”
Parents of pupils who were refused entry to any of their preferred schools have the opportunity to appeal the decision to an independent appeal panel between May and July.
However, this will be a very unlikely scenario for most families in Sheffield as overall 97.84% were allocated one of their three preferences.
In Sheffield 90.43% of first preferences were met with 5.83% of second preferences and 1.58% of third choices. Just 2.16% of families had none of their preferences met.
A waiting list is held by the local authority for children who were refused admission to a school that they ranked higher than the one that they were allocated.
Parents have been reminded that there is no guarantee that their child will come off the waiting list and be accepted into a more preferred school, but there is always movement between March and September.
The waiting list comes into operation on 1 March and is maintained until 31 December 2024.
Cllr Dale added: “We know how important this allocation process is to families and, despite most pupils getting their first preference, inevitably there will be others who may be disappointed today. I wish to reassure families that national allocation day is just the start of this process and we will be working with families as much as we can to find them a place which is suitable for them and their children.”
