Dear Subscribers
The sun is finally here (at least in Bristol) and it is time to see if the news from the world of education is equally sunny!
The DfE has published statistics on the offers made to applicants for primary and secondary schools places this year. Figures are provided at national, regional, and local authority level. This year, the proportion of secondary school applicants who received an offer of their first preference school increased by 0.3 percentage points to 82.9%, following a 0.7 percentage point decrease in 2023. The figure for primary schools was 93.2%, representing an increase of 0.7% since last year. This year there was a 2.3% drop in the number of applicants for a place at primary school, to around 555,600. Applications have been falling since 2020.
Every few weeks we take a look at pupil absence figures in England. Across the academic year to date, the overall absence rate was 7.1% – 5.4% in state-funded primary schools and 8.9% in state-funded secondary schools. The rate of persistent absence (pupils who miss 10% or more of their possible sessions) was 20.1% – 15% in primary schools and 25.1% in secondary schools.
Another set of key data published this week details the numbers of children with Education Health Care (EHC) plans in England. The numbers continue to increase rapidly. As of January 2024, there were 575,963 children and young people with an EHC plan, up 11.4% from January 2023. There were 138,200 initial requests for an EHC plan during 2023, up from 114,500 in 2022.
Finally, as the election approaches, let me share a little research from the polling app, Teacher Tapp which asks teachers 3 multiple choice questions each day. Last week, teachers on the app were asked what they considered to be the most important issues facing the country at the present time. Unsurprisingly, for teachers of all ages, education came out on top, followed by health and the economy. Defence, tax, and immigration were bottom of the list.
I look forward to updating you again next week.
I look forward to updating you again next week.
