Nearly 35,000 children in England missed out on a place at all their preferred schools this year.
Across the country, 25,707 children applying for secondary schools and 9,050 children applying for primary places either were given a place at non-preferred school or received no offer at all on the National Offer Days this year. This total of 34,757 is an improvement compared to the 36,890 who missed out in 2021.
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.
Across England, 83.3% of applicants for a secondary school place received an offer of their first preference school on National Offer Day, March 1. As well as this, 94.4% received an offer of one of their top three preferences, according to figures published by the Department of Education (DfE).
There were 614,059 applications for a place at secondary school in 2022. This is the highest number of applications recorded since figures began in 2014.
At local authority level, the areas where children were most likely to get their first choice were Central Bedfordshire (98.2%), East Riding of Yorkshire (96.9%), and Rutland (96.7%). Central Bedfordshire is the only local authority whose largest secondary entry point is year 9, which is what the DfE covers.
The local authorities where children were least likely to get their first pick were Kensington & Chelsea (60.5%), Lewisham (62.0%), and Hammersmith & Fulham (62.1%). The DfE said in London, the higher number of practical options available to applicants and the ability to name six schools may encourage parents and carers to make more speculative choices for their top preferences.
At primary level, 92.2% of applicants received an offer of their first choice school on National Offer Day, on April 16, up from 91.8% in 2021, with 98.4% getting one of their top three. There were 576,100 applications for a place at primary school in 2021, a 0.8% decrease on 2021 (which itself was a 5.1% decrease on the figure for 2020).
This may be down to lower birth rates meaning fewer children needing places - there has been a reduction in births in England from late 2016 onwards. The ages applying to start school in September 2022 were born between September 2017 and August 2018.
As well as this, the DfE said during the 2021 collection process, a number of local authorities said a larger than usual number of applications were submitted late, which means they were not counted in that year’s collection (which only covers offers made on National Offer Days). The application deadline was during the winter pandemic period, which may have affected parents getting applications in on time, and there may be other factors reducing the number of applications, for example, an increase in parents choosing to homeschool.
As in previous years, the lowest rates of children getting their first preference primary place are all in London - in Kensington & Chelsea (69.5%), Hammersmith & Fulham (81.0%), and Wandsworth (82.5%). The only non-London local authority in the bottom ten was Windsor & Maidenhead (83.8%).
