It's the day that parents of reception age children looking forward to with excitement and fear in equal measures: school allocation day.

A total of 5,555 children due to start school this September found out where they had been given a reception class place this morning - and according to Cornwall Council it was good news for most.

Out of all that applied, 5,265 families were offered a place at their first choice school - almost 95 per cent of the total applications - while more than 98 per cent were given a place at one of their three preferred options.

However, the council acknowledged that some would be disappointed. Cornwall has 227 schools with reception classes and this year 78 of those are now full after the first round of allocations, compared to 72 at this time last year.

Sharon Hindley, head of education access and sufficiency at the council, said: “We recognise there are some areas where competition for places is very high and that’s why over the last ten years Cornwall Council has invested more than 75 million pounds into the infrastructure of schools in Cornwall, creating an additional 2,500 new pupil places."

The number of oversubscribed schools is expected to increase as late applications for places are processed over the next few weeks. More than 97 late applications have already been received so far this year.

Sally Hawken, Cornwall Council’s cabinet member for children and wellbeing, said: "A lot of hard work goes into coordinating this process and I would like to thank the School Admissions Team and the schools across Cornwall for their support in ensuring as many children as possible can attend their preferred school.”