Almost one in 10 pupils in Wigan miss out on place at their first choice of secondary school

Wigan Council said that 91 per cent of children in the borough managed to get their favoured preference for this September, which is higher than last year’s figure of 89.5 per cent.

But it still means that nine per cent of children in the borough have been unable to get their preferred place.

Meanwhile 97 per cent of pupils in the borough got one of their three choices, up slightly from 96.9 per cent last year.

That, though, means three per cent of pupils beginning high school in September will not be somewhere they or their families wanted them to go.

A total of 3,810 Wigan Borough pupils applied for a place at a secondary school this September – an increase from 3764 in 2019. All children in the borough have been offered a place at a school.

Coun Jenny Bullen (pictured), cabinet member for children and families at Wigan Council, said more children were wanting to attend secondary school.

She said: “There has been a rise in demand which is why some children have not got their first choice of secondary school.

“There had been a bulge in demand for primary school places a few years back but that’s settled down now as the birth rate has gone down, and these children have moved onto secondary school.”

But Coun Bullen stressed that she felt the council had a “very good track” record on high school admissions.

She said: “This is still a very high figure in comparison to other local authorities.

“So I do feel we’ve got a really good track record on this.”

She urged parents of children who had not got a place at their first choice of secondary school to visit their chosen school to see what it was about.

Coun Bullen said: “From speaking to parents, you actually find that many of them and their children end up loving the school they’ve been allocated when they’ve visited it and got a taste for what it’s about.

“So I would encourage parents to do this.”

She said that parents did have the option of going through an independent appeals process if they weren’t happy with the choice, while they can also be added to a waiting list for a school.

She added: “We are so pleased that the overwhelming majority of children will be starting their high school life at one of their preferred schools. We have an excellent track record in the borough for enabling children to get into the primary and secondary school of their choice.”