Secondary school place statistics for Dacorum revealed

The secondary school league tables were published this week

Parents found out last Wednesday where their children would be heading for the next stage of their education, and while most are happy, some will have been left disappointed.

Nine per cent of the 1,610 applications received their second choice school, while just over three per cent had to settle for their third or fourth preference.

Nearly 1.5 per cent of parents who applied on time didn’t get any of their top four choices, but 11 families who applied late got their first choice for their children.

County wide, there were 400 more applications than in 2016, with the first choice numbers for Herts dropping slightly from 79.26 per cent last year to 78.64 per cent this time around.

David Williams, Herts County Council’s cabinet member for education, 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.

“While I appreciate that a small number of parents may be disappointed with the school they have been allocated, I would encourage them to visit the school and speak to the headteacher before dismissing the offered place.”

School places must be accepted by parents by March 15, while the deadline to submit an appeal is 4pm on March 31.