Almost nine in ten children in Brighton and Hove will go to their parents’ first choice of primary school in September.
Brighton and Hove City Council said: “This year’s figure of 89.98 per cent first preferences (2,382 pupils) is up by more than two percentage points from last year’s figure of 87.9 per cent (2,470 pupils).
“More than 98 per cent of parents were offered one of their preferred schools.
“In line with the council’s published arrangements, those who were not offered a place at one of their preferred schools were offered places at the nearest school to their home address that had places available.”
Both the number and percentage of those pupils – who have been directed to attend a school – have fallen. Just 45 children (1.7 per cent) will be directed to a school, down from 75 (2.4 per cent) last year.
The total number of primary school applications was 2,647, down from 2,809, with 177 (6.6 per cent) children going to the second preference picked by their parents and 43 (1.6 per cent) to the third preference. A year ago the figures were 197 second preferences (7 per cent) and 67 third preferences (2.4 per cent).