Pupils and parents across Bristol have until 15 March to accept or reject their secondary school placement. Bristol City Council have confirmed that 92% of families have been offered a place at one of their top three preferred schools and that all families who applied for a place at Bristol schools have been offered a place.
This comes as some parents from Wicklea Academy in Wick Road, who had selected Oasis Academy in Brislington as their choice for secondary school, have been advised their children have been offered a place in a Hartcliffe school. They said none of the parents had indicated this school as a preference.
Parents were concerned that the school is over five miles away, which they said would need a 10 mile bus journey into the city centre and then to Hartcliffe, changing buses on the way. This would mean catching a bus at 6.30am and only arriving home at 5.30pm or, alternatively, endure a one and half hour walk.
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Bristol City Council confirmed that a meeting will be held with concerned parents on Wednesday 8 March. A spokesperson from Bristol City Council said: “All families who applied to Bristol schools have been offered a place following receipt of nearly 5,000 applications for a year seven place in September.
“While 92 per cent of families have been offered a place at one of their top three preferred schools, we recognise that some have received offers from schools not on their preferred list. With two new secondary schools in development in the city, we’re building to meet future demand and ensure we continue to deliver school places for all children.”
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Secondary school places were sent out via email at the start of March with the council confirming that all families who applied to Bristol schools have been offered a place. This year, 4,945 applications for places were received, compared to 5,008 in 2022.
This year, some parents will also receive offers from the two new free schools - Oasis Academy Daventry Road and Oasis Academy Temple Quarter - which are set to open in temporary accommodation in September.
The council said that offers of a school place at these two new schools will be made directly by Oasis Academy, who operates the schools. Therefore, some families will receive two offers of a school place this year, one from Oasis and one from Bristol City Council, and they will be able to decide which school offer they accept.
Councillor Asher Craig, Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Education, said: “We knew that the high numbers of applications for a Year 7 place, with some schools unable to continue offering additional places, and the new schools falling outside of the co-ordinated admissions process, made this a challenging year for our school place planning. However, our admissions team have worked with schools, and I am pleased that we are able to ensure that all Bristol families received an offer of a secondary school place.”
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Some families (8%) did not receive one of their preferred schools, which is slightly higher than last year (6.6%). The main reasons for this are that families have applied for schools which allocate places by random allocation, are outside of the Bristol area or are faith schools.
The council spokesperson said: “Parents and carers must reply to their offer, to either accept or decline, by 15 March 2023. If a place was not offered at their preferred school, they can ask to go on a waiting list for a school they applied for, appeal for their preferred school or request new school preferences."
Guidance on the options available can be found on the council’s website.
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