Majority of pupils accepted to preferred primary school in St Helens

With certain schools becoming oversubscribed at a time when there are several housebuilding developments ongoing across the borough, the number of school places has been a growing issue in recent years.

In the last academic year, the Star reported that 12 schools were oversubscribed across the borough, while a further 13 were at capacity with the number of places offered matching the number of first choice preferences.

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Figures released from St Helens Council’s school admissions team have revealed that more than 98 per cent of parents and carers have been successful in securing one of their preferred primary schools for their child this September.   

In terms of first choice preferences, almost 94 percent of applicants were accepted at their first-choice school.

3.68 percent were accepted into their second choice school, while 0.49 percent were allocated their third choice.   

Welcoming the data, St Helens Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Councillor Nova Charlton said:  “Our schools’ admissions team has an exceptional track record of ensuring parents and carers are allocated one of their preferred school preferences, and I’m delighted that this is the case once again for the upcoming academic year.

“I would like to say a big thank you to the team for their extremely hard work over the past few weeks to get the allocation done by the deadline, ensuring we as an education authority meet our statutory duty of providing children and young people with a school place.”

"If any parent or guardian has questions about their application, I would ask them to contact the School Admissions Team by emailing schooladmissions@sthelens.gov.uk."