Parents have two days left to apply for secondary school places for their children in Staffordshire.

Admission applications to secondary schools close on October 31st, meaning parents still have time to make that all-important decision on which secondary school their child will attend in September 2021.

With an increased demand for secondary school places in some areas of the county, Staffordshire County Council's admissions team has produced some top tips when making an application.

These include:

• Make more than one preference

• Be realistic about the schools being applied for, and always include your catchment area school on your list of preferred schools where you have one.

• Carry out a school search here.

• Understand the admissions arrangements for each of your preferred schools. This will enable you to assess what order of priority will be given for each school. You can find this information here.

All applications are considered at the same time, meaning it is important that all applications are in by October 31st.

County Councillor Jonathan Price, Cabinet Member for Education said: "We have experienced an increased demand for secondary school places over the years, which has been dealt with by a comprehensive programme of expanding existing schools and building new ones.

"Last year 92 per cent of parents in Staffordshire were allocated their first preference school, with 95 per cent allocated one of their top three schools, and we will continue to plan for more school places in the future.

"Even so, I would urge the parents who haven't applied for a place yet to do so through Staffordshire County Council's website before the closing date, to give them the best chance of being allocated one of their top three schools."