Wokingham

Applying for your child’s place at your nearest Wokingham school is now even easier – thanks to an online school admissions scheme from Wokingham Borough Council.

Online application for school places, at www.wokingham.gov.uk/schooladmissions, was made available for the first time last year. It was a great success with over 40% of parents in Wokingham borough choosing to apply online for both the primary to secondary transfer group, and the entry to primary (starting school) group. This far exceeded the government target for online applications of 5 to 10%.

The benefits of applying online are:

•It is quick, easy and secure to fill in the form online
•You can apply from home at any time during the relevant application period
•There is no risk your application will get lost
•You will receive an email to confirm your application has been submitted
•You can change your application right up to the closing date
•You will be able to view the results of your application on the notification date

The Wokingham Council’s online application system ran smoothly during this first year, and those families who used it to apply for school places in the 2007-2008 academic year are about to begin at their new schools.

The system is now being prepared for next year, when applications for the 2008-2009 academic year will be available as follows:

Primary school to secondary school transfer: Applications from September 10, 2007 to October 24, 2007. (Notification of places: March 3, 2008)
Entry to primary school, and infant school to junior school transfer: Applications from December 1, 2007 to January 25, 2008. (Notification of places: March 31, 2008)

Wokingham School admissions lead officer Sue Riddick said: “Online applications have proved a great success. Staff at the council have worked hard to make sure this new system runs smoothly and I am glad we have found a way to take some of the pressure off parents.”

Executive member for Wokingham children’s services Cllr Frank Browne said: “The council is always looking for new ways to make things easier for parents and schools staff. We have one of the highest rates of connectivity to the internet in the country, so this improved service should be accessible to most residents at home. Those that do not have their own computer can use the PCs in one of our libraries.”

Wokingham Borough Council