Thousands of families were left disappointed after almost 90,000 children did not get a place at their preferred school this year, Government figures showed today.
Nearly one in six children in England failed to gain a place at their first choice -around the same percentage as last year.
The most sought-after were 20 times over-subscribed with the recession being blamed for increasing the strain on state schools.
This is because pressure on finances has meant many families have had to pull out of private education.
Shireen Ritchie, of the Local Government Association, said the fragile state of the economy had played a role in today’s figures.
‘Many high-performing schools are oversubscribed,’ she said.
‘It’s hard to imagine a time when every single child would be able to get a place at their first-choice school.
The increasing squeeze on parents may spark fears that many will look to underhand methods to get their children into their first choice school.
Results for applications by more than half a million children showed 83.2 per cent were offered a place at their preferred school for September.
Statistics from the Department for Children, Schools and Families show 94.9 per cent of families received an offer of a place at one of their top three preferred schools – a rise of 0.3 per cent on last year.
Nearly 530,000 11-year-olds from 151 local authorities were told of the allocation in letters sent out on March 1.
It is the third year the figures have been compiled after the introduction of the controversial lottery-style scheme.
Schools Minister Vernon Coaker said: ‘Today’s figures show that the vast majority of parents are very satisfied with the admissions system and are getting their children to the schools of their choice.’
But he accepted that not everyone would be happy.
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