Over 10,000 London children fail to get first choice of primary school

MORE than 10,000 children have failed to get a place at their top choice primary school despite a drop in the number of applications, figures have revealed.

Families across the capital were finding out on Monday which school their children will start at in September amid a drop in demand for reception places. They are allowed to list six schools in order of preference.

Overall, 89 per cent of London children were given their first preference school, which is 0.6 per cent more than last year. But it still means 10,017 children will start at a school in September that was not their first choice. There was also an increase in the proportion of children getting into one of their top three schools.

But figures released on Monday by the Pan-London Admissions Board show that two per cent of pupils — 1,622 children — were not given a place at any of the schools on their list. This percentage has not changed since last year despite the number of children applying for places dropping.