The majority of Cornish reception age children have been allocated a place in their first preference school when the academic year begins in September.

Parents of reception age pupils across Cornwall were sent details of their child's new school today, with every child who applied receiving a place.

Cornwall Council received 5,839 applications for new reception school places, and 5,399 - or 92.5 per cent - have been offered a place at their first preference school. Half of the remaining pupils, 220 of the 440 not allocated their first preference school, were allocated their second preference school, and 46 pupils their third preference school, meaning 97 per cent of children will go to one of their three preferences.

The remaining 174 pupils have been allocated a place at the nearest school to their home address with room. Of the 174 not allocated their first, second or third preference, 82 of these only expressed one preference and 39 only expressed two preferences on the application form.

Andrew Wallis, Cornwall Council’s Cabinet Member for Young People, said: “I am delighted that 92 per cent of children in Cornwall have been allocated their first choice of primary school and I would like to thank the school admissions team for all their hard work.”

“Of the children who have not been allocated one of their three preferences, the process has been made more challenging because 121 of these families did not express a second or third preference.

“We always advise parents / carers to submit three preferences on their application form to ensure that they are allocated one of their preferred schools . We understand that some parents / carers believe that by submitting only one preference this will increase the likelihood of getting their first / only preference – however this is not the case, as can be seen by the figures above.”

This is a slight improvement compared to 2015 new reception admissions, when 91 per cent of 5,782 applicants were allocated a place in their first preference school, with 96 per cent being allocated one of their three preferences, and three per cent were not allocated a place at either their first, second or third preference school.

In 2014 94.2 per cent of children were allocated a place in their first preference school, with 98.3 peer cent being allocated one of their three preferences.

Cornwall has 235 primary schools, of which 227 have reception classes (with the remaining 8 junior schools); of these, 104 are currently full. This number is expected to increase as late applications for places are processed over the next few weeks. The number of primary aged children in Cornwall requiring a school place continues to grow, this picture is mirrored nationally.

Among the areas in Cornwall which are experiencing particular pressures on reception age school places are St Austell, Saltash, Helston, Falmouth, Pool, Camelford, Truro and Newquay.

To meet the increasing demand for school places in primary schools, Cornwall Council has commissioned expansion schemes at a number of schools across Cornwall to ensure that children can be accommodated in new reception and other primary classes in time for the start of the new academic year in September 2016.

The council said it has been working closely with schools in pupil place pressure areas in Cornwall to identify the best solution for expansion and is very appreciative of the support offered by schools, both maintained and non-maintained, to meet the continuing demand for primary places.