Thousands of children in Kent will find out today (March 1) which secondary school they’ve been offered a place at for September.
More than 95% of pupils will receive an offer from one of their preferred schools.
The number of schools families could apply to was increased from four to six for this year only to account for the fact the Kent Test was delayed due to COVID-19 and parents/carers had to submit their applications before the results of the selection assessment had been returned.
A total of 22,264 parents/carers -18,273 from Kent- applied for a place for their child in a Kent school for September 2021, which is an additional 594 applications compared to last year. Kent County Council says 95.38% of Kent families (17,428) were offered a place at one of the schools they selected.
As parents/carers selected their six schools before knowing their child’s Kent Test results, many named first preferences their child did not end up being eligible for. This meant the number of pupils offered a place at their first preference school –12,736 pupils (69.7% of the Kent cohort) – was lower than last year’s 77.65%. A total of 2,577 children (14.1% of the Kent cohort) will be offered a place at the school they put as their second preference, up from 11.68% last year.
Families who applied online should check their emails from 4pm today (Monday, March 1) and will be able to log into their accounts from 5pm to view their offer. Those who submitted their applications on a paper form will receive their offers by post, which will be sent by First Class mail today.
Every year a small number of children cannot be offered a place in one of their preferred schools and KCC will support these families by allocating them a place at an alternative school. Families are advised not to worry as today is only the first stage of the allocation process. They are advised to speak to staff at the school they have been offered a place at before making a decision as they may well find the school is suitable for their child.
Families should request to join the waiting list of any school they want to continue to be considered for by Monday, March 15.
KCC will hold a second round of offers on Wednesday, April 21 for any spaces that become available. Parents/carers can also appeal directly to the admissions authority of any school that could not offer their child a place. The offer email will explain how to make use of these options.
For further advice about the admission process email: [email protected]
For more information on how to join a waiting list and/or appeal go to: www.kent.gov.uk/secondaryadmissions
Important dates
Parents/carers will have until Monday, March 15 to accept or refuse their offer and return waiting list forms.
Parents/carers must also lodge any appeals for their named schools by Friday, March 26 to be heard on time.
KCC will reallocate places from schools’ waiting lists sending out a second round of offers on Wednesday, April 21.
After Wednesday, April 21, schools will maintain their own waiting lists and parents/carers can apply to schools direct to ask to be placed on the waiting list.