Tens of thousands of children have missed out on their first choice of secondary school because a rise in the number of pupils applying has intensified competition for places.
About one family in six were told that they had missed out when local authorities sent emails, letters or updated online accounts to confirm offers of secondary school places. Councils are expecting appeals from parents challenging refusals.
In London, where pressure on places has been highest because of a rising birth rate a decade ago, 31.5 per cent of applicants missed out on their first choice of school.
Of the total number, 14 per cent received an offer for their second preference and 6 per cent for their third choice of school. About 6 per cent of applicants were not offered a place at any of their six chosen schools.
This was a slight improvement on last year when almost 32.5 per cent of applicants in the capital were not allocated a place at their first choice.
Advertisement
Applications to schools in London rose by 3.3 per cent and in parts of the capital almost half of children lost out. In Hammersmith and Fulham, 48 per cent were not offered their first choice of school, while the figure was 44 per cent in Westminster and about 49 per cent in Greenwich, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham and Wandsworth.
In Birmingham 30.8 per cent of applicants were unable to get a place at their preferred school, down from 31.5 per cent last year. Most were offered an alternative school from a list of six chosen by their parents, but 6.6 per cent of children were assigned to a school they had not chosen and 10.9 per cent of families in Birmingham were offered a school outside the city.
In Manchester 24 per cent of parents were not offered a place for their child at their first choice of school and 8 per cent did not get a place at any of their top three schools.
In Kent, which has a selective education system, 18.6 per cent of applicants missed out on their first choice of school, a small improvement on last year although the county council said that applications had risen by 600.
National figures will not be published by the Department for Education until June, but last year 15.8 per cent of children in England missed out on their first choice of secondary school, with figures this year expected to be similar.
Advertisement
Nick Gibb, the schools minister, said: “We want every parent to be able to send their children to a good local school. Despite rising pupil numbers, the vast majority of parents are able to do so.”