Local MP Welcomes Secondary School Allocation

Local MP Caroline Dinenage has welcomed the news that over 98% of parents applying for a Year 7 place have been offered a place at a secondary school of their choice, with 93.3% getting a place at their first preferred school through Hampshire County Council. Those pupils who did not secure a place at one of their chosen schools will be allocated a place at a school, near to where they live, with available spaces. Parents have the right to appeal in these situations, and can put their child’s name down on their preferred school’s waiting list. In recent years Hampshire County Council have delivered 6300 additional places in Hampshire schools. This is caused by the popularity of Hampshire as an education destination with 84% good or outstanding schools, which causes in-migration of families, and also a sharp rise in the birth rate nationally. The completed programme in 2018/19 will have delivered 17300 places at a cost of £308million, the biggest HCC school building capital programme for at least 30 years. Commenting on the news, Caroline said: “I am pleased to see these encouraging figures of parents getting places at their first preferred school. Hampshire County Council have worked hard to ensure additional school spaces are created to keep up with the ever-growing population of Hampshire. I am also pleased that Bridgemary School was recently awarded a good OFSTED rating, this is great news for Gosport and shows the enormous hard work and effort of staff, head teachers and students.” Councillor Peter Edgar, Hampshire County Council’s Executive Member for Education, said: “We have again been able to offer a very high number of pupils a place at their preferred secondary school. That’s a significant achievement considering the size of the county and increasing demand for school places – this year’s applications were up over 500 from last year. Pupil numbers continue to rise, and I am pleased to say that our investment in schools to provide the additional places is keeping pace, thanks to our strong track record in planning for the future. I understand there will be some disappointment for those parents who did not secure a place at one of their chosen schools, but every child whose parents applied for a place at a Hampshire secondary school, has been offered one. There are always individual schools with exceptionally high demand, which is a credit to the high standard of teaching at these schools.”