ALLOCATED places for secondary schools have been announced this week for pupils studying in Gloucestershire.

The county council has released its allocation offers to parents whose children will be attending secondary school in September.

Online applications remain high this year with 94 per cent of submissions being made via the system. Those who applied via the website will receive an email confirming their school place and will be able to accept their place online if they prefer.

All other parents and carers will receive written notification of their child’s allocated school in the post. This letter will be specific to each pupil and will contain an explanation for the decision made.

Applicants will have until Friday March 13 to accept their school place or request an alternative school.

Charlotte Jones, senior admissions manager at the county council, said: "We know this can be a stressful time for pupils and parents and our admissions and transfer team has worked very hard to try to ensure that as many pupils as possible get one of their preferred schools.”

The county council says this year, at this stage, 98 per cent of pupils have received a place at one of their preferred schools, and 88 per cent have been offered their first preference. A total of 6,741 children will receive an offer of a school place within Gloucestershire or in a neighbouring county in line with parental preferences.