Council says it is working to find local schools places for Banbury children following uproar over Bicester placements
Oxfordshire County Council has confirmed it has found “satisfactory” school places for more than half of the Banbury children that were offered places at a secondary school in Bicester.
Last week, it was announced that 54 students from Banbury and nearby villagers were allocated places at the Cooper School in Bicester because of a lack of spaces locally.
This would mean the affected children would need to undertake a nearly 40-mile daily round trip just to get to school when they start in September.
The news alarmed several local parents, who said they would not be able to manage getting their children to a school almost 20 miles away.
MP Sean Woodcock also spoke out against the decision and demanded that the council make sure similar incidents do not happen in the future.
He said: “I call on the county council to apologise to all concerned and provide a full and detailed account of how it will prevent further such incidents in Banbury in future.”
Oxfordshire County Council has today (March 11) confirmed that it has now found school places for 30 out of 54 children allocated places in Bicester.
The authority has also said it is confident it will find “satisfactory” school places for the remaining 24 students before they start secondary school.
Cllr Sean Gaul, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for children, education and young people’s services, said: “Our number one focus is getting the Banbury children placed in Banbury schools as soon as possible.
“We've arranged satisfactory outcomes for 30 out of 54 in just over a week, and I have every confidence that we have the right people in the right places supporting this ongoing priority.
“Overall I'm incredibly grateful for what our officers have made happen in the past week in the face of significant challenges, and I'm looking forward to the placement of all affected Banbury children in Banbury schools.”
The council says that 37 of the 54 children offered a place in Bicester requested at least one of the Banbury secondary schools, and 17 applications did not name a local Banbury school.
Cllr Gaul added: “Almost nine out of ten Oxfordshire children applying for secondary school places across the county have been offered a place at their first choice school for September. In total 85.4 per cent of pupils have received a first-preference offer in Oxfordshire, and 96.4 per cent were offered a preferred school.
“However, I fully acknowledge that while that’s a very encouraging picture overall, for those families who aren’t happy with the school allocated, they will be disappointed, and we continue to work hard to find an acceptable solution for them.”
Sean Woodcock MP added: “I am glad OCC has acknowledged the issue and is looking at ways to provide extra school places in Banbury. However, it should never have got to this stage with the additional stress placed on parents and children.”
Any parent wishing to discuss their offered school place can contact the Oxfordshire County Council’s customer service centre on 01865 519800 to discuss the options available to them.