Allocations of first preference school places rise in Leeds on primary offer day

Families are asked to name five preferred schools when applying for a place in reception, and the percentage of first preference offers made continues to rise. This year 91.2% are being offered a place at their first preference school, an increase of 4% in the last two years (up from 89.2% last year and 87% in 2020).

In total 9047 children have been allocated a place at one of their top five preferred schools.

Children who could not be offered one of their five preferred schools are offered a place at a suitable alternative school. Ninety children are in this situation, 0.98% of the total places offered which is a reduction from 155 (1.7% of places offered) last year.

Of these children, 87 were offered a school place less than a mile from home and three were allocated a school within 1.65 miles of their home address.

Shaheen Myers, Leeds City Council’s deputy director of learning, said: “We understand that choosing a school can feel like one of the biggest decisions parents and carers will make for their child.

“We encourage families to include their catchment or nearest school and to use all five preferences when they apply. I am pleased that we have been able to offer a preferred school to over 99% of applicants this year.

“Families do however have options if the offer wasn’t the outcome they had hoped for, and we will do our best to work with anyone who wants to explore other ways forward.”

To accept the offer of a school place, parents should contact the school direct, no later than the deadline stated in their offer email or letter. Parents who wish to decline their offer must first make sure they have another offer, or a plan for how their child will be educated.

Parents can also ask to be added to the waiting lists at schools which did not offer a place. The deadline for requesting to join a waiting list is Monday 2 May. Alternatively, parents can submit an appeal if their child did not get a place at the school they wanted, no later than Monday 16 May.

Information on offer day and what to do next can found at www.leeds.gov.uk/offerday 

Notes to editors

Leeds City Council has allocated 9137 Reception places for September 2022 at primary schools in Leeds. This is a reduction from last year of 196 places.

The fall in demand for Reception places is due to declining birth rates and lower numbers of families moving into the area. Several schools still have vacancies on national offer day. This means places remain available for families who haven’t yet applied, those moving into the city and those changing school mid-year.

The figures for places allocated at Leeds primary schools for September 2022 are as follows:

• 8337 (91.2%) children were given their 1^st preference (8333 / 89.2% last year)
• 498 (5.4%) children were given their 2^nd preference (565 / 6% last year)
• 143 (1.5%) children were given their 3^rd preference (180 / 2% last year)
• 48 (<1%) children were given their 4^th preference (64 / 1% last year)
• 21 (<1%) children were given their 5^th preference (36 / <1% last year)