Secondary School Offer Day 2019: Sutton Council meets rising demand as 2,500 Sutton children secure preferred school place

An average of 92 per cent of children were offered a place at one of their preferred schools in London - compared to 95.8 per cent of pupils in Sutton.

A total of 90.5 per cent of Sutton pupils were also offered a place at one of their top three choices of secondary school, with 72.6 per cent getting into their first preference school, according to figures released on National Secondary School Offer Day by the Pan London Admissions Board.

Sutton pupils did much better than regional averages with ony 66 per cent getting into their first preference school in other London areas.  

The number of applications in Sutton rose by 134, from 2,486 last year to 2,620, placing increased pressure on places.

A Sutton Council spokesperson said: “Sutton has some of the best schools in London, so I’m delighted so many pupils have managed to get a place at one of their preferred options.

“Today’s figures show the number of pupils starting secondary school in Sutton, and London as a whole, is growing significantly.

“While there has been a 5 per cent increase in applications compared to last year, we have still managed to deliver more preferred places for pupils than the London average.

“This has been made by possible in large part thanks to good planning, the flexibility of our secondary schools in making additional places available, and the opening of Harris Academy Sutton in 2018.”

Any resident without a school offer should read the advice with their outcome notification, and may name additional schools to maximise the chance of an offer in the coming weeks. Parents have access to an independent appeals process if they are unhappy with the outcome of their application.