Croydon has maintained its record of ensuring the majority of pupils moving up from primary level get their first preference choice of secondary school.
The borough’s school place offer figures are on par with London averages, with almost 70% of pupils getting their preferred school.
And nearly 90% received an offer at a school that was one of their top three named preferences.
This is largely thanks to the council having the largest school building and expansion programme in the UK. As a result, every child in Croydon whose parents applied on time received an offer of a place.
The building programme is needed because of the rapidly expanding school age population in Croydon, and five more new primary and secondary schools are planned for the next few years, providing an extra 6,000 places by 2020.
“Not only are we making sure that all of our children have a place, but the council is also driving up standards to improve exam results. Some 83% of secondary schools and academies in Croydon are now rated by Ofsted as good or better – and half of these are ranked as outstanding.”
Councillor Alisa Flemming, cabinet member for children, young people and learning
The application process has been simplified over the last few years, and 100% of applications are now received online.
The council continues to stress how important it is that parents use all six preference options or run the risk of being allocated a school they haven’t selected as a choice.
