About 14,000 children have missed out on their first choice of primary school in London, figures reveal.

Across the city’s 33 council areas, 86% got into their first choice of school. Overall, the number of applications was down by 4% to 98,944.

The Pan London Admissions Board said pressure for places remained high despite the slight drop in applications.

The national figure will not be announced for several weeks.

The London figures also show that overall, 96% of children received an offer from one of their top three preferred schools. Last year, it was 94%.

The areas with the highest number of first preference admissions were Barking and Dagenham (93%), Newham (92%) and Bexley (91%), while Kensington and Chelsea (68%), Hammersmith and Fulham (76%) and Harrow (79%) had the lowest.

‘Considerable growth’

The admissions board said the variation in boroughs was because the city had such a dense population and that while some schools might not have offered many first preferences, they may have a high proportion of first preferences for pupils from neighbouring boroughs because schools were situated near borough boundaries.

It said some parents may also choose to select a school their child was unlikely to receive an offer for.

Sara Williams, chair of the Pan London Admissions Board, said: “The demand for primary school places in London remains high, having increased by 5% since 2011.

“Overall there has been a slight fall in demand for reception places since last year, but the pressure on London schools to deliver places for children across the capital due to start school this September remains.

“We will be keeping an eye on birth rates and patterns of population growth, but we expect demand for primary school places to continue at least at current levels and demand for secondary school places to grow considerably in the years ahead.”

[Source:- BBC]