News release from Hertfordshire County Council - 1 March 2013
More than 95 per cent of Hertfordshire children have been allocated a place at one of their preferred secondary or upper schools.
Most parents and carers in Hertfordshire will be able to access their secondary transfer allocation information this evening (Friday 1 March).
Allocation emails will be sent, after 6pm, to all parents who have confirmed their email address.
The online allocation system will be available for all online applicants after allocation emails have been despatched at www.hertsdirect.org/admissions. This year, 97 per cent of parents applied online.
The county council will only be sending allocation letters to parents and carers who applied on paper or those who applied online but did not confirm their email address. Parents and carers who applied online will be able to accept the school place offered online, as well as pursuing a continuing interest place and lodging an appeal. Detailed information about an individual child’s application will be available in the allocation email or letter.
This year 11,660 children in the county have been allocated one of their ranked schools, a success rate of nearly 96 per cent. Just over 80 per cent of children gained a place at their first ranked school, up from 79 per cent last year. This year for the first time parents were able to rank four schools rather than three and 225 children were allocated their fourth preference school.
Additionally this year, parents were able to apply for Year 10 places at the new studio school in Stevenage - the Da Vinci Studio School for Science and Engineering - as well as for places at the proposed University Technical College in Elstree, and the second studio school in Letchworth. 167 applications were received for these three schools.
Frances Button, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, said: "Moving on to secondary or upper school is an important step and we work extremely hard to make the applications and allocation process smooth and straightforward. We want to ensure that as many children as possible get a place at one of their ranked schools.
“We all want the best possible education for children in Hertfordshire and the county has excellent schools. I do appreciate that some parents may be disappointed with the school they have been allocated, but would encourage them to visit the school and speak to the headteacher before dismissing the offered place. They may be pleasantly surprised by what they see.”
All applicants who have not been offered their first preference school will automatically be placed on the continuing interest list for any Hertfordshire schools named higher on the application form than the school offered. However, as was the case last year, parents should note that all new applications for continuing interest must be made to their home local authority, i.e. to Hertfordshire County Council for families living in Hertfordshire.
Further detailed information about the post-allocation processes, including breakdowns by district of school allocation figures, can be found online from Friday 1 March at www.hertsdirect.org/admissions
The 'Secondary - What Can You Do Now?' leaflet is also available online and has been included with the allocation letters for children who did not apply online and have not been offered their first preference school. Parents can also access other useful information, such as school allocation summary reports, through the website.
School places must be accepted by March 15 2013. This is also the last date to 'opt out' of continuing interest for community and voluntary controlled schools. The deadline to submit an appeal is 4pm on 28 March 2013.
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