MORE than 93 per cent of children have been offered their first choice of school this September.

The 2,554 Barnsley children and their families have been told about their primary school choice today (April 16) in emails and letters sent out by Barnsley Council.

Of those, 93.8 per cent of children were offered their first choice of school.

Overall, 2,515 children were given at least one of their choices on their application form.

The council has also seen 98 per cent of families apply for the child’s primary school place online an increase of six per cent from last year.

It has been revealed that 2,395 children were offered their first choice, 108 children were offered their second choice of school, 12 children got their third choice of school and 39 children didn’t get any of their choices but have been allocated a school place by the council’s school admissions team.

There were 87 late applications which will be processed this month.

Mel John-Ross, executive director for people, said: “It’s great news that 93.8 per cent of children were given their first choice of primary, and the outcomes for children and parents are very positive overall.

“Managing the applications has once again been a result of great partnership working between our school admissions team and schools.

“My sincere thanks go to all the staff who made it possible for families to find out about their child’s primary school place today.

“The process is made easier by families completing the application online. We received 98 per cent of applications online this year, and I thank everyone who applied this way.

“We recognise that some children and families may have received disappointing news today and they will be supported in their next steps.”

Families who don’t want to accept the place offered must contact admissions@barnsley.gov.uk or call 773677 within 10 working days of receiving their offer.