Secondary school places confirmed for thousands of pupils

Pupils across the country will find out today (Thursday 1 March) which secondary school has offered them a place for September, with nine out of ten schools now rated good or outstanding by Ofsted.

Latest figures show 83.5% of pupils were offered their first choice of secondary school and 94.6% of pupils were offered one of their top three secondary schools last year, which follows the creation of 735,000 new school places since 2010.

School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said:

This morning, thousands of pupils will find out which secondary school they will be going to this September and thanks to our reforms and the hard work of teachers, 1.9 million more children are now going to good or outstanding schools than in 2010.

We are raising standards across the country so that every child can go to a good school where they are taught the knowledge and skills they need for future success and we’re investing £5.8 billion to create even more good school places. This builds on the 735,000 places we’ve created since 2010 – meaning 9 out of 10 pupils get one of their top three choices of schools.

Academic standards are rising following the introduction of more rigorous GCSE and A levels to bring our education system level with the best in the world. Latest performance data shows:

• The attainment gap between disadvantaged secondary school pupils and their peers has narrowed by 3.2% since last year and 10% since 2011;
• More pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, Special Educational Needs (SEN) pupils and pupils on free school meals are being entered for English Baccalaureate (EBacc) subjects compared to last year, ensuring pupils have the knowledge and skills they need for future success; and
• The number of students entering at least four of the five EBacc subject areas have increased by 4.8% this year – up to 82% in 2017.

The data builds on the government’s record of 1.9 million more children now in good or outstanding schools than in 2010, with 9 out of 10 schools awarded this rating at their last inspection. England’s pupils are also now amongst the world’s best readers.