Parents of reception age children across Cornwall today received details of which school their child is due to attend in September, with the majority of children being allocated a place in their first preference school.

The Council received 5782 applications for new reception school places for pupils in Cornwall to start school in September 2015. Of those, 5242 (90.7 %) have been offered a place at their first preference school. Of the 540 pupils who were not allocated their first preference school, 272 pupils have been allocated their second preference school and 53 pupils their third preference school. These figures show that 96.3% of children have been allocated one of their three preferences.

215 pupils (3.7%) have not been allocated a place at either their first, second or third preference school, but at the nearest school to their home address with room. All reception age pupils who applied for a school place in Cornwall have been allocated a place.

This is a slightly worse picture compared to 2014 New Reception admissions, when 94% of children were allocated a place in their first preference school, with 97.9% being allocated one of their three preferences. 106 (2.1%) children did not get a place in their first preference school.

In 2013 93.1% of children were allocated a place in their first preference school, with 97.5% being allocated one of their three preferences. There has also been an increase in the number of schools which are full for new reception admissions in September 2015. Cornwall has 235 primary schools, of which 227 have reception classes (with the remaining 8 junior schools). Of these 112 are currently full, compared with 93 schools in 2014 and 53 in 2013. These figures show that the number of children in Cornwall requiring a school place continues to grow, this picture is mirrored nationally. Among the areas in Cornwall which are experiencing particular pressures on reception age school places are St Austell, Camborne, Pool and Redruth, St Agnes, St Teath and Camelford, Truro, Launceston and Newquay.

To meet the increasing demand for school places in primary schools, Cornwall Council has commissioned expansion programmes at sixteen schools across Cornwall to ensure that children can be accommodated in New Reception and other primary classes in time for the start of the academic year in September 2015. Work is currently underway in most of these schools with additional works due to be carried out during the summer term and summer holiday period. In addition the Council is preparing for future growth in schools across Cornwall and is tendering for schemes to be carried out to provide further additional school places in Cornwall over the next two years.

The Council has been working closely with schools in all the school place pressure areas in Cornwall to identify the best solution for that school and / or local area to meet the ever increasing numbers of children requiring school places and to support children to attend their local school.