First preference primary school allocation slightly down on 2019

The percentage of Bromley pupils offered their first preference of primary school has dropped from last year, but remains above the London average.

A total of 98.5% of children in the borough will be starting their formal education later this year at a primary school named on their application. This is down from the 98.8% figure in 2019 but above the London average of 97%.

That figure includes 3,347 families who were offered their first preference, taking the percentage of first-choice placements to 85.7%. This is however down on last year’s figure of 86.7%.

Over the first three school preferences, Bromley achieved 96.5%, more than a percentage point above the London average.

Those who were offered a second preference remained at 8%; those offered a third preference was up from 2.5% in 2019 to 2.8% in 2020 and those offered a fourth to sixth preference rose from 1.1% to 2%. The total number of applications across Bromley rose from 3,884 to 3,906.

Councillor Peter Fortune, Bromley Council’s executive member for children, education, and families, said: “Despite the additional challenges brought about by Covid-19, we have been able to safely ensure that as many children as possible secured one of their preferred primary schools and I am pleased to see so many families get a favourable offer.

“We are rightly very proud of our schools and the achievements of our young people and I know that, this year in particular, children and parents alike will be even more excited by the prospect of starting their journey into education at a school of their choice later this year. My sincere thanks go out to all our highly dedicated teaching staff and education providers for all their work at this extremely difficult time.”

Parents can log into their eAdmissions account to view the offer online and offered places should be accepted by Thursday, 30 April.