One in six didn't get chosen school
Almost one in six children in England have failed to gain a place at their first choice of secondary school this year, Government figures show.
Results for applications by more than half a million children show 83.2% were offered a place at their preferred school for September this year.
The refusal rate was 16.8%.
Almost 92,000 children missed out on their first choice of school this year.
Details of the success rates for applications by 546,744 11-year-olds in 149 local authorities were released by the Department for Children, Schools and Families. There was a 1.1% increase on last year in the number of children being allocated a place at their preferred school.
Families learnt of their child's allocation by letter last week.
Schools Secretary Ed Balls has announced an inquiry into whether the use of lotteries to award school places is having a harmful effect on children. The new Chief Schools Adjudicator Ian Craig has been tasked with heading up the review.
The lottery system has been used by around 25 local authorities but Mr Balls said it should only be employed as a last resort.
The Government brought in a new statutory admissions code last year aimed at making the process fairer, and the code has just been tightened again. Ministers said it would help stamp out unfair practices such as schools interviewing parents and pupils or asking for personal information about their family background in order to select pupils.
But critics suggest it has meant that fewer parents are getting their first choice of school, while parents themselves have reported they still find the system confusing.
