Thousands of children across Warwickshire will be offered places at primary schools today (17 April) with a record number of children being offered one of their top three school choices.
Today is National Offer Day, when children and up and down the country learn which primary or junior school they will attend for the 2023/2024 academic year.
This year, there were 6,333 Warwickshire children who applied for a Reception place by the application deadline of 15 January, an increase of 1.5% on the previous year. Of those, 91% have been offered a place at their first-choice school. A further 7% have been offered a place at either their second or third choice, meaning a total of 98% have been offered a place at one of their top three preferred schools.
There were also a further 1,207 children who applied for a Year 3 place at a Junior school, of which 99% have received an offer for their first-choice school.
Almost all parents and carers now apply for their Reception and Junior school place online. They will receive an email, or can check their online parent portal, on 17 April to get details of their school offer and instructions on what to do next. Letters to the remaining applicants have been posted.
To help families to make their school applications, Warwickshire County Council have produced a series of animated videos full of advice and guidance and have held online webinars where parents and carers can ask questions of the admissions team. All of these are available to watch on the Warwickshire County Council YouTube channel.
Nigel Minns, Strategic Director at Warwickshire County Council said: “I’m delighted to see that so many young children have been made offers to one of their preferred schools, especially given that we had the highest number of applications recorded in the last four years. As a community, we are proud that we have such excellent schools in the County, providing our children with the best start to their education. Starting school for the first time, or moving to a junior school, is a milestone moment in a child’s life, filled with excitement and anticipation for the future. I have no doubt that these children have a bright future ahead of them and we look forward to welcoming them to our schools in September.”
The deadline for Warwickshire parents to respond to their primary school offer is 2 May. More information on how to do this is on the Warwickshire County Council website at: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/admissions