THOUSANDS of children across the city will be offered places at secondary schools today (Monday 3 March) – with an increase in the percentage being offered their first choice.
Today is National Offer Day, when children up and down the country learn which secondary school they will attend for the 2025/26 academic year.
In Leicester, 4,657 city residents applied for a secondary school place. Of those, 3,830 (82.3%) gained a place at their first-choice school. A further 505 (10.8%) got their second preference, 117 (2.5%) their third preference and 15 (0.3%) their fourth preference.
In total, 95.9% were offered a place at one of their top four preferred schools, with the remaining 4.1% offered alternative places. Every applicant who applied on time was offered a place at a school.
Cllr Elaine Pantling, assistant city mayor for education, said: “I’m really pleased to see that the vast majority of applicants – 95.9% – gained a place at one of their preferred schools, with an increase in the percentage getting their first choice.
"We know starting secondary school can be an anxious time for families, and we do all we can to make the applications process is as straightforward as possible. We have made sure that, once again, no-one who applies on time is without a place.”
Of all who applied, 94% made an online application, meaning they can view their results online on offer day, rather than having to wait for a letter to be posted out to them.