London: Three in 10 miss out on first-choice secondary school

The number of applications for places at secondary schools in the capital fell slightly this year, in part due to families leaving London because of their working patterns

Three in 10 children in London missed out on a place at their top choice of secondary school.

Lambeth, in south London, had the lowest proportion of children getting their top choice, at 61.56%.

The number of applications for places at secondary schools in the capital fell slightly this year.

Families leaving London due to different working patterns has played a part in this drop, councils have said.

Overall, 69.78% of pupils who applied to start at a London secondary school this autumn received an offer from their first preference, compared to 69.95% last year, figures show.

There were 92,641 pupils who applied for a secondary school place — a 0.03% decrease on last year.

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London Councils, which collated the figures, said application numbers were affected by a number of reasons "including varying pressures on different schools and local authority areas".

It added: "Other important factors include migration changes, such as families moving due to changes in their circumstances and working patterns, along with the localised effect of the UK leaving the EU in some areas."

Data broken down by borough showed that in some areas nearly two in five youngsters missed out on their preferred school.

Barking and Dagenham had the highest proportion of successful first-preference applications, at 81.67%.

Ian Edwards, executive member for children and young people at London Councils, said: "It is positive that once again the overwhelming majority of children have an offer from one of their preferred schools.

"Boroughs have worked diligently with schools to ensure there are sufficient places to meet the high demand for school places across the capital."

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