This is how many pupils are set to miss out on their first-choice Kent secondary school in 2017

One in five pupils who applied for a place in a Kent secondary school for this September will not be offered their first choice.

More children than ever before have applied this year, with a total of 19,442 applications received - an increase of 645 from 2016.

There were 2,745 applications for Kent schools from parents who do not live in Kent and of those, 810 secured an offer, although it's not known how many were given their first choice.

Overall, 5,186 children will not be offered a place at their first-choice school – 3,251 of those are living in the county. Meanwhile, 616 pupils in Kent will not be offered any of their top four preferences.

Although there is an increase in applicants, 287 more children will get their first preference secondary school than last year and over 96 per cent will receive an offer from one of the four schools they named.

Don't worry, please call us anyway to discuss your ideal job.

24/03/25Ex-Ofsted boss says education secretary wants 'to please unions'

The former head of Ofsted, Amanda Spielman, has criticised the education secretary and accused her of giving "a great deal of time and attention" to the teaching unions. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Ms Spielman claims "effective reforms are being reversed" - referring to potential changes to academy schools' powers.

20/03/25Childcare costs fall for the first time in 15 years – but nurseries are worried

Annual nursery costs for a child under two in England have fallen for the first time in 15 years, according to the children's charity Coram. It comes as the government continues to roll out its funded childcare scheme, which will provide all eligible working parents of pre-school children, not only three and four-year-olds as currently, with 30 hours of childcare per week from September. However, some nurseries and childminders say they may have to drop out of the scheme as government funding struggles to meet rising costs, including National Insurance increases from April.

17/03/25Poorest children missing more school and further behind after Covid

The poorest children are missing more school and falling further behind classmates, research shared with the BBC suggests. According to new analysis by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) - which looked at pupil performance after the Covid-19 pandemic - children from the lowest income families are now up to 19 months behind peers by the time they are 16 years old.

13/03/25The government faces a "now or never moment" to hit its target of recruiting 6,500 new teachers in England

The government faces a "now or never moment" to hit its target of recruiting 6,500 new teachers in England by the end of its term, a new report has suggested. Analysis by the National Foundation of Educational Research (NFER) says unfilled vacancies are at a record high and recruitment into teacher training remains "persistently low." All but five secondary subjects missed this year's recruitment targets for new trainee teachers, which are set by the Department for Education (DfE).

06/03/25Medway children offered secondary school places as the number who got their first choice revealed

A total of 96% of children were offered places at a secondary school of their choice in Medway

1 January 2025

9thSend is the 'bggest issue' for schools - Ofsted