More Kingston parents than ever before have been offered a primary school place at one of their preferred choices despite soaring demand for places.

Kingston Council’s initial allocation of reception class places from September this year shows that:

• 95 per cent of applicants in the borough have been offered one of their preferences (up from 94 per cent in 2012)
• 79 per cent have been offered their first choice school (up from 78 per cent in 2012)
• 92 per cent have been offered a place at one of their top three preferred schools (up from 90 per cent in 2012).

Kingston Council is fully confident that all children living in the borough whose parents want places in local schools will be placed well before September. Those whose preferences have not so far been met have been offered an alternative or will be offered one from the waiting lists in the coming weeks.

In 2011, 1,871 borough residents applied to Kingston Council for primary school places. In 2012 that figure rose to 1,960 and this year it was 2,024.

To meet the high demand for high-quality school places, Kingston Council has worked with schools to develop and implement a long-term strategy. This year, additional classes have been provided at eight schools – Alexandra Infants, Christ Church Primary (Surbiton), Coombe Hill Infants, Fern Hill Primary, King’s Oak Primary, Lovelace Primary, Malden Parochial C of E Primary and Tolworth Infants. The additional class at Lovelace is being provided ahead of its proposed permanent expansion in September 2014.

Despite increased demand, I am very pleased that we have seen an increase in the proportion of parents who have been offered a place for their child at their preferred school.

We are committed to providing extra places in areas of the borough where they are most needed so that local children can be educated as closely to their homes as possible. I would like to thank especially those schools which have kindly agreed to accommodate additional children this September.

said Cllr Patricia Bamford, Lead Member for Children and Young People

Kingston Council will continue to work with schools to implement its School Place Planning Strategy to meet anticipated demand while widening choice and achieving best value for money for local taxpayers. The council is looking at a range of options for providing permanent solutions.