7:00am Monday 15th March 2010
By Mark Bowen
THERE will be far fewer empty desks at Herefordshire’s schools at the start of the next academic year.
Last September there were 200 spare places for year seven students at the county’s secondary schools.
But figures seen by the Hereford Times reveal that there were only 125 spare places remaining at the beginning of March.
And the figures also show that six schools are over-subscribed for year seven places.
The Bishop of Hereford's Bluecoat School is the most popular choice for parents, with 85 children on a waiting list.
Other schools with pupils on waiting lists are St Mary's RC High School, Lugwardine: (45); John Kyrle High School, Ross-on-Wye (34); Whitecross High School, Hereford (31); Wigmore High School (21); and Fairfield High School, Peterchurch (six).
Schools with places remaining are: Lady Hawkins High School, Kington (30); The Minster College, Leominster (27); Kingstone High School (26); Aylestone High, Hereford (15); The Hereford Academy (13); John Masefield, Ledbury (seven); Queen Elizabeth Humanities College, Bromyard (six); and Weobley High School (one).
The figures represent a turn of fortunes for both the Hereford Academy and Aylestone, with increasing demand for places.
In June last year, the Hereford Times revealed the Academy had 53 empty places, while Aylestone had 73.
The council has claimed that 90 per cent of Herefordshire parents have been offered their first choice of secondary school for September and six per cent their second.
Parents can list three preferences and, out of 1,654 applications, only 40 children have not been offered one of their first three choices.
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