Christ the King College, the Isle of Wight secondary school once upheld as a ‘beacon school’ for the Isle of Wight by Conservative councillors, has had the lowest number of first choice applications for the coming academic year.
Pupils applying to Christ the King as their first choice totalled just 91, compared to 206 last year and 312 in 2015.
Head of school, Noreen Ward, told the County Press that not recognising the impact of the Ofsted report would be disingenuous, but that September 2019 would mark a new start for the school.
Catalogue of troubles
The drop in pupil numbers could impact the school’s finances – they have been battling with serious financial problems for some time (see the public spat that took place with the council over this last year).
As mentioned by the head of school, the latest Ofsted inspection dropped the previously ‘Good school’ two places in the ratings to ‘Inadequate’, with ineffective safeguarding issues and bullying not being tackled as just two of problems highlighted.
First choice applications
The table below sets out the year seven capacity for each school, along with the number of first choice applications in 2019 (and 2018), as well as the total number of year seven admissions for 2019.
| School | Capacity | 2019 1st Choice | 2018 1st Choice | Total confirmed 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christ the King College | 270 | 91 | 206 | 106 |
| Carisbrooke College | 120 | 116 | 99 | 120 |
| Medina College | 260 | 118 | 141 | 138 |
| The Island Free School* | 125 | 119 | 122 | 125 |
| The Bay CE School | 180 | 132 | 102 | 148 |
| Cowes Enterprise College | 270 | 230 | 169 | 252 |
| Ryde Academy | 270 | 247 | 210 | 270 |
Island-wide picture
A spokesperson for the council told OnTheWight,
“More than 91 percent of Island secondary school pupils have been allocated their first choice for September.
“In total, 1,155 Year 6 pupils have been allocated a place at an Island secondary school.
“Of those who made an application on time, 1,060 were allocated their first preference – or 91.77 per cent – up on last year’s 90.67 per cent.”
Two schools over-subscribed
The IWC spokesperson went on to say,
“Both Carisbrooke College and The Island Free School were oversubscribed by first preferences applications, but all other schools were able to offer places to all their first preference applicants.
“For parents who did not include more than one preference, the council has allocated a place for their child at the nearest school with places available.
“Families who made no application have also been allocated a place at the nearest school with spaces.”
Source: IWCP
Image: Reinis Traidas under CC BY 2.0
