The proportion of 11-year-olds offered a place at their first-choice secondary school in England is the lowest since 2010, official figures show. This year, 83.5% of applicants received offers from their first choice schools, down from 84.1% last year. The last time more than 16% of applicants were not offered their first choice was in 2010.
However, the government says the system is "rising to the challenge" of providing more school places. And at primary level, there was an improvement in the proportion of children offered their first choice of school. This year, 90% of four-year-olds were offered their first choice, up from 88.4% last year.
The figures show that overall 94.6% of 11-year-olds received an offer from one of their top three preferences for secondary school and 97.2% of four-year-olds were offered one of their top three preferences at primary school.
