Improved web service will help families apply for school place

Families will be able to apply for a secondary school place on new ‘easy-to-use’ web pages following improvements to the County Council’s website.

The Council’s Find My Child a School Place online serviceis now liveand residents can apply from3pm today[September 6]. Officials say they are confident it will make it much simpler for people to apply online.

Zahir Mohammed, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, explained: “In Buckinghamshire, more than 20,000 people apply for a school place each year. Our digital team has worked long and hard to improve the service and make it more user friendly, so as to lead people through the processes and options as simply as possible.

“We want our website to be first port-of-call for everybody applying for a school place.”

The site also has a webchat feature so families can ask for further explanation if the information they require is not on the website.

The new service has been designed to be mobile first – in response to the significant growth in mobile use of the main Council site.

Matthew Cain, Head of Digital at the County Council, said: “These improvements are the result of more than 50 hours we have spent talking to residents and testing different ideas to make sure the experience is as trustworthy and reassuring as possible.”

For the new service, go towww.buckscc.gov.uk/findaschoolplace