Doing homework on school choices

ALMOST nine in ten Oldham children will attend their first-choice secondary school in September.

But around 600 were denied their preferred place.

Figures from the council show that 88 per cent of the 2,741 applications for secondary schools were granted their first choice, up slightly from 87 per cent last year.

A total of 306 pupils from outside Oldham were offered school places in the borough and 193 vice-versa.

Last year, nearly one in six children nationally failed to gain a place at their first-choice secondary school.

Admissions lawyer Matt Richards warned that parents had started preparing appeals against secondary school allocations before they even learn which place their child has been offered.

They are researching their odds of gaining a spot at a desired school, contacting lawyers up to six months before places are allocated if they believe they are likely to miss out, said Mr Richards.

He explained: “You could be a Catholic but don’t meet the practising Catholic criteria — you haven’t been every Sunday or you’ve been just once a month — so you’re not going to meet that.

“You know absolutely that, over the last three years, places have gone to people who meet that criteria, so you know you’re going to have to appeal.

“Others have done their homework on distance grounds. They’ve gone to the local authority and said ‘in the last three years what’s the last person’s distance that’s got a place?’ and they’ve said ‘a mile’.

“They know that if they live 1.3 miles away it’s a fair assumption that they’re not going to get a place.”