Primary school starters to learn their fate

For the first time this year, families are finding out at the same time which school they have been allocated on the primary “National Offer Day”.

It has been suggested nationally that tens of thousands of four-year-olds could miss out on their first-choice place this year, with predictions that up to one in three will lose out in some areas, particularly in major cities that are facing a shortage of places.

Councils and schools have been facing an increasing squeeze on school places, particularly for primary-age children, partly fuelled by a rising birth rate in recent years and the impact of immigration.