Nearly all county children get first choice school place

This follows the news last month that 76.95% of all young people in the county were allocated their first choice secondary school on National Offer Day – an increase of nearly 3% on 2015.

Zahir Mohammed, cabinet member for education and skills at Buckinghamshire County Council, explained: “The original overall figure doesn’t reflect the fact that, due to the nature of the selective system, not every child in the county is successful in gaining entry to a grammar school - even if they place it first choice on their list.

“The new, higher figure accounts for the fact that a large number of pupils who don’t achieve a grammar place are still allocated the first choice of upper school that they have listed.”

He added this was further evidence that the allocation system was working well in Buckinghamshire.

The new statistics show that 83% of children achieved their first choice upper school when grammar school preferences were taken out of the equation, an increase of 1% on last year. The figure for grammar-qualified children achieving their first preference is 97%, the same as last year. The combined statistics add up to 87%.

Mr Mohammed added: “Obviously, we would prefer if 100% of all children were given a place in their first choice school, but I was delighted to see the increases this year in the allocation success rates.

“We hope these figures will grow and grow, and we will work robustly to try to achieve satisfaction for every family in this regard.”