Over 1000 high school applicants miss preferred choice

At the start of the school year, 1,065 applicants were offered a place at a high school they did not apply for, as per data reviewed by Politiken from the Ministry of Children and Education. Around 50,000 individuals sought admission to high schools, implying that approximately 1 in 50 applicants were allocated to undesired schools. Placement decisions prioritize applicants’ preferences and then consider the commute time. A June 2021 agreement by the previous Social Democratic government sought to distribute students based on parental income to avoid skewed student compositions at gyms. However, this policy faced criticism, leading the current government to focus solely on commute time. In contrast to last year’s figures, where almost 1,180 applicants didn’t receive their desired placement and only 351 accepted the offered spot, regional disparities remain, with 706 applicants in the Capital Region and only 45 in the Zealand Region being assigned to undesignated high schools.