Vince Cable

New figures reveal that entry pressures are growing on popular local secondary schools.

The initial allocation of places at local secondary schools suggest that, of the three seriously over-subscribed schools (Orleans, Teddington and Waldegrave), it has become significantly more difficult to get into Orleans and Teddington and slightly easier to access Waldegrave. The distance 'cut off' - from home to school - used to allocate places for pupils applying to Orleans has been reduced from 4 miles (6335 metres) to just over 2 miles (3493 metres); for Teddington from 4.5 miles (6840 metres) to under 3 miles. This means that substantial numbers of 'link school' children in the Twickenham area (19 for Orleans Park; 44 for Teddington) have been refused places though they may enter late via the waiting list. The effective distance for Waldegrave has been increased by about 200 metres (from 2412 to 2606) which will enable a few more pupils from the Hampton Hill and Hampton area to enter in the first round of allocations.

Vincent Cable said: "It is both timely and positive that new initiatives are being taken to boost the two less fashionable secondaries out of the five in my constituency: Whitton and Hampton Community College. If the academies' programme is able to liberate new investment and education support then it will be possible to satisfy the aspirations of all parents and pupils instead of the - roughly - two thirds who receive first choice offers at present. Compared with other comparable boroughs in west London, Richmond has a good record in meeting school choice at 11 but there is still a long way to go to make all the secondaries as popular as the primaries."