97.1% of children will start at their first choice Secondary School in September 2025 as Rotherham Council continues to outperform most of the UK by providing pupils with their preferred place.
Monday 3 March 2024 is National Offer Day where Year Six children and their families learn which secondary school they will be attending in September 2025.
Over 3,200 school place offers have been made to pupils in Rotherham, if an application was submitted on time. An impressive 91.1% were for their first preference school. In all, 97.1% of pupils in Rotherham have been offered a place at one of their three preferred schools this year.
Nationally, 82.9% of pupils were offered their first-choice secondary school place in 2024 and the proportion of pupils offered one of their preferences was 94.6% (source: Department for Education).
Councillor Victoria Cusworth, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services at Rotherham Council said: “As a Council, we are committed to helping every child reach their full potential. That’s why I’m extremely happy to see that so many children in Rotherham have been accepted into their first-choice secondary schools.
“Our dedicated school place planners work tirelessly to forecast the demand for each school. Thanks to our strong collaboration with school and academy leaders across the borough, we’ve been able to provide the necessary school places where they are needed most.”
Over the past few years, the Council has invested money to create more pupil places. This has allowed a consistent high number of children getting their preferred places in Secondary Schools.
It is essential that school places keep pace with demand. The Council and Schools recognise this and work together to make sure that school places increase in line with birth rates, new housing and other factors that might increase demand.
Pupils who were not offered one of their three preferences have been allocated either their catchment area school or the nearest school to their home. No schools in Rotherham refused applications for children living in the catchment area.
Any parents or carers who were not successful in gaining a place in a preferred school have a right of appeal, via an independent appeal panel.
Further information about starting secondary school is available on the Council’s website.