Haringey’s Lib Dem councillors have welcomed news from the Council that this year’s school admissions problems have been significantly less severe than last year.

Nevertheless, the Lib Dems have voiced their concerns about the number of cases where children have not been admitted into the school of their choice and many schools remain massively over-subscribed.

Figures released by Haringey Council this week show that only some 20 Haringey residents do not have a place for their children in the borough’s schools. The situation in primary schools has also been improved by changes to the admissions criteria and increases to the reception classes at Rokesly primary school, Crouch End.

As well as the problems over first choice admissions, great concern continues to exist over the new Greig City Academy, which has been shunned by many parents.

Leader of the Opposition, Cllr Ross Laird comments:

“This year’s admission figures are an improvement on last year’s, but there is no escaping the fact that severe pressures remain on many schools in Muswell Hill and Crouch End.

“Fortismere had almost 550 children chasing 243 places as their first preference, while the situation was not much better at nearby Muswell Hill Primary School, with over 100 children chasing 60 available places.

“We are also seriously concerned about the poor performance of the Greig Academy and the pressure this may be putting on surrounding secondary schools. We will also await with interest the release of figures on the estimated number of pupils who have been sent to private education instead – a growing factor in the west of the Borough.

“While this year has seen improvements, we believe that there is still a strong case for an additional primary school in the area to relieve the pressures on Muswell Hill and Crouch End primaries.”