Online school admissions hit targets

In Hackney 81 per cent of parents used the electronic system in its first year

Parents’ use of online school admissions systems has far outstripped expectations in the first year of national availability.

The eAdmissions National Project allows parents to complete complex school application forms online, and contains an email query system and links to relevant information sources.

Overall, 133 of the 150 local authorities involved met or exceeded the first-year target of 18 per cent of online applications for children starting secondary school next autumn.

The councils with the highest take-up rates were Hackney, Hertfordshire and North Somerset, which recorded e-application rates of 81 per cent, 68 per cent and 65 per cent respectively.

‘These numbers are hugely in excess of the normal figures quoted for use of online council services,’ said Hertfordshire councillor David Beatty.

The eAdmissions project was led by Hertfordshire Council and sponsored by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), as part of the National Strategy for Local Government.

DfES minister Lord Adonis said: ‘eAdmissions transforms for the better the whole way parents interact with the education system, and makes a reality of quality and choice in the way it deals with the vexed issue of application for schools.’

The service is available not only to parents with access to a computer, says DCLG minister Angela Smith.

‘Local authorities have made good progress using online access in libraries and one-stop shops, as well as making the service available in schools themselves,’ she said.