News First choice places for most children
The vast majority of children in the East Riding have found places at their first-choice secondary schools, new figures reveal.
At the three senior schools in the Goole, just over 80 per cent of youngsters who applied for them as their first choice were accepted.
Of the 513 pupils who found a place at one of Goole's high schools, 427 of them were East Riding youngsters who chose one of the three schools as their first choice.
At Howden School, 159 pupils out of a total intake of 174 were East Riding residents who selected the school as their first choice.
And, at Vermuyden School, 160 of the new intake of 168 pupils for the coming academic year were county residents who chose the school above all others.
At Snaith High School, however, the proportion of youngsters from the East Riding area was significantly less than at the other schools.
Out of the total intake of 179 pupils at the highly-successful school - which, as in previous years, was over-subscribed - just 108 were from the East Riding.
However, of the remaining 71 pupils who won a place at the school, 68 are from neighbouring North Yorkshire and chose the school as their first choice.
The high proportion of pupils from the North Yorkshire area was emphasised by the fact that just one North-Yorkshure pupil out of a total of 69 joining an East Riding school went anywhere other than Snaith.
However, it is understood that many of the children going to Snaith will be drawn from nearby villages such as Hensall and Carlton, which are just over the county border.
Education chiefs say that, because of the sizeable North-Yorkshire intake, only three of the Snaith High newcomers chose it as their second choice, compared with eight at Vermuyden and 15 in Howden.
A spokeswoman for the East Riding of Yorkshire Council said: "These three three kids could well have named the school as their second choice, just like the eight at Vermuyden and 15 in Howden could have chosen those schools as their second choice."
In total, the East Riding of Yorkshire Council admissions team received 3,657 applications from parents living in the area, and all but 41 applicants were given places at one of their preferred schools.
This means nearly 99 per cent of applicants got a place at a school for which they had expressed a preference, with 3,529 applicants (96.5 per cent) given places at the school they named as their first choice.
Eighty-one applicants were given places at their second-choice school and six at their third choice. Of the 41 applicants who did not get places at any of the schools named on their application forms, 29 have been given a place at their catchment-area school and 12 at the nearest school in the East Riding with a place available.
Among East Riding residents, 87 per cent of children will be going to their catchment-area school.
Eight schools in the region were over-subscribed: Beverley Grammar School, Beverley High School, Cottingham High School, Hessle High School, South Holderness Technology College, South Hunsley School, Snaith School and Wolfreton School.
Up to 352 children living in neighbouring regions were accepted at East-Riding schools.
Of these, 281 places have been allocated to youngsters from Hull, 69 from North Yorkshire children from North Yorkshire.
Converseley, 133 East-Riding pupils have been given places at schools in neighbouring regions, mainly denominational schools.
Cllr Penny Peacock, portfolio holder for children and young people, said: "We have had yet another year when a very high proportion of parents have got their children into the school of their choice."
Published on 13th March 2008 in News.
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