Secondaries oversubscribed as parents press for places

Top Catholic secondary schools received record levels of applications this year, with hundreds of pupils competing for entry as figures across the country reveal that tens of thousands of children have missed out on their first choices, writes James Macintyre.

Competition at Catholic schools was most acute in London, with the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School in Shepherds Bush receiving almost 900 applications for 120 places.

At the Coloma Convent School for Girls in south-east London, some 745 pupils applied for 150 places.

The popular London Oratory in west London said applications had increased at all three levels of entry. At Year Seven, there were around 950 applications this year compared with roughly 850 in 2014, for 160 places. And in the sixth form there were over 400 applications for 40 places, compared to around 240 applications last year. At St Mark’s Catholic School in Hounslow, 878 pupils applied for 186 places, up from last year when there were 781 applications. According to figures released this week, almost half of all pupils in the capital failed to gain places at their first choice of secondary school.