RISING numbers of infants face missing out on their preferred primary schools this year because of a desperate shortage of reception places, it emerged yesterday.

As many as one in seven parents is being forced to accept second, third or fourth-choice schools in September following a surge in applications.

In London, where the squeeze on places is most acute, more than a fifth of pupils have been turned away from their preferred primary.

The pressure on places is being put down to rising birth rates — leaving many councils with a lack of space for four and five year-olds.

Observers also point to an influx of migrants in some areas combined with a fall in the number of children being sent to private schools during the economic downturn.

To cope with the rising demand, many authorities are extending existing schools, using mobile classrooms and even holding temporary lessons in nearby churches and community halls.

Last week, it emerged that another £600million in emergency funding was being made available by the Coalition to increase capacity in some areas.

But with the primary school population set to surge by 800,000 within the next eight years, it is feared the investment will not be enough.

Helen Jenner, chairman of the Pan London Admissions Board, which coordinates school allocations in the capital, said councils “cannot create places at schools which are already full and not all parents can be offered their first preference”.

She said: “London local authorities are working hard to try to ensure that they can offer every child a school place but with this surge in demand it is becoming increasingly difficult.”

The Daily Telegraph yesterday obtained data from almost 60 local authorities in England – more than a third of the total.

Among councils that provided year-onyear figures, some 90 per cent reported an increase in applications this year compared with last year.

In those areas, almost 14 per cent of four and five-year-olds failed to get into their first-choice school. Nationally, this would result in about 85,500 out of 600,000 missing out. Last year, the figure was estimated to be about 12 per cent. William Beagley as Captain Crewe and Ella Vickerman as Sarah Crewe in the London Children’s Ballet production of A Little

which starts this weekend at the Peacock Theatre in the West End of London