School uniform - primary school pupils shoes and dresses -
Image: Barneymoss under CC BY 2.0

Nearly all Isle of Wight parents secure preferred primary school for children

The allocation of Isle of Wight primary school places has been announced today (Tuesday 16 April), with 99.4 per cent of Island parents gaining a school of their choice.

Hundreds of children across the Island will find out which primary school they’ll be attending from September.

96.5% achieved first choice of school
This year, 96.5 per cent of applications achieved a place at their first choice school. Every child for which an application was submitted to the council received a school place.

  • The number of applications in 2024 — 998 (1,024 last year).
  • The percentage of applications achieving first choice — 96.9 per cent (96.5 per cent last year).
  • The percentage achieving second choice — 2.3 per cent (2.8 per cent last year).
  • The percentage achieving third choice — 0.1 per cent (0.2 per cent last year).
  • Under one per cent (0.7 per cent) were allocated a place at the nearest school with a place when the authority was unable to meet any of their parent’s preferences.

The figures above include all applications that were received on time and those children with an Education and Health Care Plan, but not those who applied late.

Bacon: It will be an exciting time as we develop and improve education
Councillor Jonathan Bacon, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Corporate Functions said,

“I am delighted the vast majority of applicants gained a place at one of their preferred schools, with most getting their first choice and all children being offered a place.

“Starting their primary education will be the beginning of a new journey for our young people and as they settle in and make new friends, it will be an exciting time as we develop and improve education on the Island.”


News shared by Isle of Wight council press office, in their own words. Ed