More than 98 per cent of Newham children offered a place at one of their three preferred primary schools

​Almost all of the Newham children due to start in a reception class at an infants’ school or primary school in September have been offered a place at one of their preferred schools.

Newham received 4,289 applications for places in total by the closing date of 15 January, according to figures published on National Primary Offer Day (16 April) by the Pan London Admissions Board, who co-ordinate school admissions in the capital.

Of the total, 4,230 Newham children (98.65 per cent) were offered a place at one of their first three preferences, compared to the London-wide figure, which showed that 95.16 per cent of children were offered a place at one of their three preferred schools.

London primary schools received 97,353 applications in total this year, a 0.78 per cent increase compared to last year. A total of 4,238 applicants (98.81 per cent) were received from Newham residents online through the Pan London e-Admissions portal.

Councillor Julianne Marriott, Cabinet member for Education said: “Newham has a fantastic family of schools and it’s great that we have been able to offer a place for 4,230 Newham children at one of their three preferred schools locally.

“I’m delighted at the huge number of tech savvy parents who applied online, which has made it a smoother process for everyone this year. I would also like to thank the staff in all our primary schools for their great work in making sure our young people get the best start to their education life.”

To thank everyone who applied online and making the processing easier for the Council, all the online applicants were entered into a draw for an offer of free school uniform and five people will be selected at random to receive it.

Only 47 Newham children (1.10 per cent) could not be offered a place at any of their preferred schools and these have been allocated places at the school closest to their home which had places remaining.

In addition, 118 children who live outside the borough were offered a place in Newham primary schools. Of this number, 44 children had a sibling at the school who is still expected to be enrolled in September.