Nearly all children in England, 98.6%, received an offer to one of their preferred choices for primary school in 2023, while 95.6% of secondary school applicants also received a preferred choice, according to figures from the latest data released by the government.
The latest data released reveals positive outcomes for school admissions in England in 2023, with 98.6% of children having received an offer to one of their preferred choices for primary school, while 95.6% of secondary school applicants also secured a preferred choice.
Over 90% of primary school children being accepted into their first-choice school. Similarly, more than 80% of secondary school pupils obtained their top choice.
However, the proportion of secondary school applicants who received an offer for their first preference school experienced a slight decrease of 0.7 percentage points to 82.6%. This decline follows a 2.2 percentage point increase observed in 2022.
In terms of numbers, there were approximately 620,000 applications received for secondary school entry in September 2023, indicating a 1.0% increase compared to the previous year, which itself saw a 1.5% increase from 2021.