Over 95% get top choice of primary school in Nottingham City

95.2% (3,509) of children in Nottingham have been offered a place at their first or second-choice primary school starting in September.

Figures out today (Thursday 16 April) show that 88.7% (3268) will be going to their first-choice school, while 6.5% (241) got their second choice.

On time Primary school applications in Nottingham have increased from 3,642 last year to 3684 in 2020/21. The City Council has worked hard to expand primary schools to make sure there are the right number of places for pupils.

This means every child in Nottingham has been offered a place in reception in September.

Portfolio Holder for Early Years, Education & Employment, Cllr Neghat Khan, said: “I’m delighted that every child in Nottingham has been offered a place at a primary school for the 2020/21 academic year – despite an increase in applications.

“The majority of these offers (95.2%) are for the parents’ first or second choice of school.

“I want to pay particular tribute to the excellent council staff who, despite the impact of coronavirus and our offices being closed, have pulled out all the stops to make sure parents received their notifications. As all are working at home they haven’t been able to offer a phone service as normal, but as always parents can accept via the online portal or by email.

“Our expansion strategy is ensuring that every child and young person has access to the very best facilities in order to help them to succeed and reach their full potential. We have invested £42m since 2009 to provide 5,000 additional primary places once all year groups are full by 2022.

“We are continuing to plan for future years, but parents can help us in the primary admissions process by submitting their application before the deadline and by always using all of their four choices of primary school.”

Nottingham City Council’s statistics for primary school admissions in 2020/21 are: