Pupils fail to secure school places
Every pupil preparing to transfer from primary to secondary education must make, in rank order, a list of six preferences from a choice of Sutton's seven secondary schools.
A report on admissions for 2009 shows that as of the March deadline for registration, 10 Sutton youngsters didn't get at least their sixth and final preference. It meant they were to be placed at a school of the council's choice.
The annual study, which breaks down the demand for places and the spaces available at each school, shows that by March, 99.06 per cent of Sutton students were offered one of their preferences.
Among those. a total of 75.88 per cent were offered a place at their first choice school. As of September, in time for the new term, the picture had changed, with 99.81 per cent of the 1042 Sutton applicants offered one of their six choices. Those placed at their first-choice school stood at 79.08 per cent.
Two were placed by the council, while two per cent – 21 pupils across Sutton – had to make do with their fourth choice.
The report also breaks down placements by ward. Vesey ward, for instance, along with Four Oaks, saw all of its applicants placed at one of their preferred schools, but only 69.51 per cent of Vesey ward students got their first choice.
In addition, appeals against awards of places are catalogued in the council study. For the September 2009 transfer, there were 84 appeals over placements involving four of Sutton's secondary schools. A total of 28 have been withdrawn, 52 have been dismissed and two were upheld for students looking to join Arthur Terry and Plantsbrook Schools. Two further decisions are pending.
Procedure for applications involving reception class intake requires parents to make a list of three preferred infant or primary schools.
As of September, more than 90 per cent of families in Sutton were successful in securing their first choice. There were five council placements.
Sutton's constituency committee chairman, Councillor Anne Underwood, said the committee would now be seeking clarification over whether the local authority-placed pupils were allocated a space at a Sutton school, or elsewhere in Birmingham.
In the case of the secondary transfers, Cllr Underwood said: "None of the councillors have received letters of complaint, so we're assuming they have been placed in Sutton schools."
During the last committee meeting of the year this week, Cllr Underwood heard one resident tell members: "I think third choice is no choice. If you can't get second, you may as well pack up."
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