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Councils voice funding concerns after rise in secondary school applications
EB News: 18/06/2015 - 12:25
Applications for secondary school places have risen for the second consecutive year, reaching 521,274, with the proportion of pupils given their first choice falling from 85 to 84 per cent.
Pupils are most likely to be offered their first choice school in the North East, while those in London are the least likely.
An LGA spokesperson said: "Councils and schools have proven they can rise to the challenge and be both innovative and cost effective. In all, 300,000 primary school places have been created since May 2010 with many schools going to extraordinary lengths to ensure there is a place for every child, including increasing class sizes, diverting money from vital school repair programmes and converting non-classroom space, such as music rooms.
"Government now needs to properly address the issue by committing to provide long term and sufficient funding for school places so that councils and schools can continue to successfully meet the need."