One in 6 pupils denied place at favourite secondary school

THE number of pupils missing out on their first choice of secondary school is at a seven-year high.

One in six children in England – nearly 93,000 – missed out, according to the Department for Education. The figure was almost half in parts of London.

The places crisis shows that the impact of rising immigration and a baby boom is being felt by secondary schools after first hitting primaries.

Councils received 562,487 applications for secondary places this year – the most since 568,723 were registered in 2008.

The share given their first preference was 83.5 per cent, down from 84.1 per cent last year. The 16.5 per cent failure rate is the highest since 2010.

In London, which has seen particularly high migration, 31.8 per cent of pupils missed out. In Hammersmith and Fulham just 53.6 per cent secured their top choice – the lowest rate in the country. Next worst were Westminster on 56.6 per cent and Lewisham on 57.8 per cent.

More than 30,000 children – 5.4 per cent – did not manage to secure a place in any of their top three preferred schools.

Almost 22,000 – 3.9 per cent – missed out on all six choices. Councils must find them places elsewhere by September.

Meanwhile, applications for primary school places dropped by 3.3 per cent to 620,330. The number securing their first choice rose from 88.4 per cent to 90 per cent this year.

Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, said: ‘The bulge in birth rates resulting from immigration and larger families has now reached secondary education.

‘Lots more families are missing out on their first choice of school. There was warning of this in primary schools and it does not look as if the secondary sector has adjusted fast enough.’

The Department for Education said the vast majority of parents continued to secure a place at their first choice.

But Russell Hobby, of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: ‘An increase in the primary school population is now moving through into secondary education. This brings a number of challenges for place planning.

‘School leaders face additional challenges in recruiting enough teachers in the right specialisms, while ensuring class sizes are manageable at a time when budgets are being cut in real terms.’