School Admissions in South Wales West

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:07 pm on 6 July 2021.

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Photo of Tom Giffard Tom Giffard Conservative 2:07, 6 July 2021

Thank you, Minister, for that response. I’m sure you’ll agree with me that COVID-19 has brought a significant number of additional challenges on secondary schools, and secondary schools and their staff and pupils have really risen to the challenge. But oversubscription has been an ongoing problem since before the pandemic, and at a time when schools and pupils are under significant pressure this is an unwelcome additional pressure. So, this year many schools in Swansea are having to deal with more applications than they can handle, forcing parents and pupils often to settle for a second or third choice school. So, within Swansea, for example, 10 out of the 14 secondary schools had more applications than places. Olchfa school had 439 applications for enrolment in September, with only 289 places available. Meanwhile, two thirds of schools have had to admit more pupils than their original admission numbers. So, can I ask what steps have the Welsh Government taken to ensure more parents and pupils in Swansea and across Wales get their first-choice school place?