Primary places

ALMOST 92 per cent of children in Oxfordshire starting primary school in September were awarded their first-choice place.

The proportion was down by more than one-and-a-half per cent from 93.09 last year but Oxfordshire County Council, the education authority, says more children needed spaces this year.

A total of 98.54 per cent (6,957 children) have been offered one of the four choices they listed on their application.

The percentage receiving a first choice of primary school in England in 2021 was 91.09 per cent, compared to Oxfordshire’s 93.09 per cent.

Oxfordshire’s percentage receiving a first choice has been better than the national average in every year since at least 2017. The national figures for 2022 have not yet been published.

This year there are 7,060 Oxfordshire children who need school places for September, 175 more than last year.

Hayley Good, the council’s deputy director of children services, said: “Our school admissions team has done an excellent job in ensuring that so many parents and children have been offered their first choice.”