Deadline to accept Peterborough secondary school places just days away

Parents are being reminded that they have just a couple more days to accept secondary school places in Peterborough,

The deadline to accept a place that has been offered is this Friday (March 14).

A Peterborough City Council spokesperson said: “Parents of children due to start secondary school in September are reminded to reply to their offer by 14 March 2025 otherwise the school place will be removed and offered to another child on the waiting list.

“If you are unhappy with the school place, you have the right to appeal:https://www.peterborough.gov.uk/residents/schools-and-education/school-admissions/school-admissions-appeals”

In total 96.98% of pupils in Peterborough have been allocated a place at one of their three preference schools and 93.36% of pupils were allocated a place at either their first or second preference school. In total, 81.57% of pupils have received a place at their first preference school for 2025/26.

Overall, 2,988 offers were made to Peterborough schools - a slight decrease on last year.

There has been a reduction in the proportion of pupils offered a place at one of their preferred Peterborough secondary schools for 2025 because of unprecedented numbers of Year 6 children arriving in Peterborough within the current academic year.

Councillor Katy Cole, Cabinet Member for Children's Services, said: “Once again we have seen unprecedented numbers of pupils joining Peterborough primary schools in Year 6 meaning there is a greater demand for secondary school places than we had predicted and planned. This has resulted in slightly less children being offered one of their first or second preference schools. However, despite this unique challenge for our admissions team, to have over 96.98 per cent of pupils being offered one of their three preferences is still an excellent outcome.

“I would like to thank parents and carers for getting their applications in on time which will always give them the best chance of securing a place at one of their three preference schools. I would also like to thank our admissions team for their excellent work at this busy time of year, processing and allocating thousands of places to children in this city.”