Parents in Bristol receive secondary school place offers

Today (1 March) on National Offer Day, families across Bristol will receive offers of secondary school places across the city. All families who applied to Bristol schools will be offered a place.

This year 4,625 applications were received – 8% more than in 2016 and around a 34% increase on 2010. 91% of families have been offered one of their top three preferences, which is down slightly from 92.5% last year.

Around three quarters (74.4%) of families were offered their first choice compared to 77% last year.

There were also around a third more first preference applications for Bristol schools from people who live outside of the city.

Councillor Claire Hiscott, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, said:

“The fact that more parents than ever want to send their children to Bristol schools is testament to their success. It is also a challenge for us as more people are applying for places, so I am pleased that we have still been able to offer the vast majority of parents one of their preferred schools. Of course we understand that some parents will be disappointed and I would encourage them to keep an open mind about other options.

“This is the second ‘bulge’ year in Bristol secondary education and, in line with the council’s commitment to increase school places, we are working with local schools to plan ahead to ensure we can continue meeting demand. As part of our work as a Learning City we are also sharing best practice between schools and working to recruit and keep a strong teacher workforce, so that all schools in the city can provide students with a good education.”

Currently 95% of Bristol’s secondary schools are classed as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by OFSTED, compared to 2013 when it was around 68%. Nationally the comparison is around 79%.

Some families (9%) did not receive one of their preferred schools. The majority of these families applied for schools which allocate places by random allocation, are outside Bristol, or are faith schools.

Parents will receive emails with offers throughout the morning on 1 March and are advised to check their spam filter if they have not received an email by 12pm.

Anyone not receiving an offer for their preferred school will be given information about how to stay on the waiting list and the appeals process.

For more information about the offers process visit: https://www.bristol.gov.uk/schools-learning-early-years/secondary-admissions