WITH several housebuilding developments ongoing in St Helens, the number of school places has become a more concerning issue in recent years.

Last week, the Star reported how 12 primary schools in St Helens Council's authority were oversubscribed for the academic year 2023/24, with another 13 at capacity.

With high schools playing a huge part in a young person's development and future, and older children able to travel further for a good school, Department for Education data shows that three high schools were oversubscribed across St Helens in the current academic year.

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Worked out by the number of places offered compared to the number of times the school was put as first preference, the most oversubscribed high school in the borough is The Sutton Academy.

A huge 545 pupils put the Academy as one of their three preferences, with 339 putting it as their preferred choice. However, the school could only offer 265 places in the current academic year.

This has concerned parents as Sutton is one of the areas with large housebuilding developments and therefore likely to have further admissions in the future, although the council previously said this year was a "one-off higher than usual year 7 intake".

The second most oversubscribed high school in St Helens is Rainford High, with only 275 places offered compared with 340 pupils that put it as their preferred choice, 

The third most oversubscribed school for the current academic year is St Cuthberts in Parr, which could only offer 192 places to the 193 pupils that put it as their preferred choice.

The remaining six high schools in the borough were undersubscribed when comparing the number of places offered with first choice preferences.

St Augustine's of Canterbury was the school with the lowest number of first-choice preferences with 98, although it offered 129 places due to second and third-choice preferences.


Speaking about the number of school places in the borough, Cllr Nova Charlton, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said:

"We fully appreciate that primary school placements can be a big worry for many families in the borough, so every year our School Admissions Team works exceptionally hard with our primary schools to ensure that parents and carers are allocated one of their preferences.

"We've had an excellent track record in recent years in this regard, with more than 98% of families securing one of their preferred choices for September 2023, up from the previous year, with 94.83% getting their first choice.

"If you have any questions or concerns about your application, please contact the team by emailing schooladmissions@sthelens.gov.uk."