Primary School Offers Sent Out Today

Families in Sittingbourne will find out today (Tuesday 19th April) which primary schools their children have been offered to join in September 2022, with nine out of ten being offered their first preference.

The parents and carers of 17,592 children who applied for a place at a Kent school will receive their offers via email or online. Of the 17,175 Kent applicants, 16,787 (97.74%) will receive one of their three named schools and 15,486 (90.07%) will be offered their first preference.

Shellina Prendergast, KCC’s Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, told SFM News: “I am delighted to see that we have managed to offer first-preference places to 90 per cent of our children, which shows the broad selection of fantastic schools that Kent offers. The number of children who did not receive any of their preferences is under 2.5 per cent and, in many cases, this is because parents named fewer than three schools, which limited the options KCC could consider before assigning them an alternative. We appreciate this will be a disappointing and concerning time for those pupils and their families, but we would urge them not to be discouraged as this is only the first stage in the applications process".

She went on to add: “Many pupils will secure places through waiting lists and reallocation, and I would like to reassure parents and guardians that a specialist KCC team is on hand to help them make the most of the options available to them. I hope that those in that situation will arrange to visit the school where they have been offered a place and speak to the staff, so they can then make an informed decision about whether or not it is appropriate for their child.”

Parents and carers who applied online will receive an email after 4pm today (Tuesday 19th April), indicating which school they have been offered; the timing of the email will depend on the email service provider. Parents and carers can also log in after 5pm to view the offer online. Those who did not provide KCC with an email address will be sent notification by first class post today.

Details of what to do if you are not happy with the allocation can be found at: www.kent.gov.uk/primaryadmissions or via the email primaryadmissions@kent.gov.uk