According to a press release from the local council, nine out of ten families in Bath and North East Somerset have been offered a place at their first choice of secondary school for admissions this September.

Bath & North East Somerset Council received 1787 applications for secondary school places for admission into the 2020/2021 academic year.

Ninety per cent of children have been allocated a place in their highest preferred school, making up a total of 1614 children. In 2019 the number of children offered their first place was 88 per cent.

Figures show 107 pupils have been offered their second preference, 28 pupils their third preference, one pupil has received an offer of their fourth preference school and no pupils needed to be allocated their fifth, meaning 98% received one of their overall preferences – another increase from last year's 97.2%.

Thirty-seven pupils have not been offered a place at any of their preferences and have instead been offered a place at their next nearest school with a place available, which is known as a referral.

All Bath and North East Somerset pupils who made an on-time application have been offered a place.

Councillor Kevin Guy, cabinet member for Children's Services, said: "Choosing the right school for your child is such an important decision for parents to make, so I'm really pleased to see that we've been able to give more children a place at their first choice of secondary school this year. We do our utmost to ensure that families applying for the places available are offered one of their preferences and once again we've been able to offer all children a place. I wish the current Year Six pupils in Bath and North East Somerset the very best for a smooth transition into their secondary schools in September."

Applications were also received from other local authority residents of which 358 pupils received an offer of their first preference, 22 pupils were offered their second preference and 9 pupils were offered their third preference.