Nearly 1,300 children across Merseyside missed out on a place at their preferred schools this year.
897 children applying for secondary schools and 376 children applying for primary places missed out on a place at their preferred schools across Merseyside. The children were either given a place at a non-preferred school or received no offer at all on National Offers Day this year.
This year's total of 1,273 children is a marginal improvement compared to the 1,283 who missed out on their preferred spot last year. Despite this the government data showed most children gained a place at their first preference school for this September, with those who missed out likely to get at least one of their preferences.
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Children in Liverpool were most likely to miss out on first choice places both at primary and secondary entry level across the region. 86% of children applying for reception places got their first preference while only 67% of applicants at senior level got top pick.
At the other end of the spectrum children in Wirral were most likely to get their first preference at primary entry and St Helens was the best placed for children getting their secondary highest preference.
Nationally around 83% of 614,059 applicants received an offer of their first preference school on National Offer Day, March 1. As well as this around 94% received an offer of one of their top three preferences, according to the figures published by the Department of Education.
At national primary level 92.2% of applicants received an offer of their first choice school on April 16's National Offer Day - up from 91.8% from the year before. There were just over 576,000 applicants for a place at primary school.
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