Parents of reception age children across Cornwall were yesterday been sent details of which school their child has been allocated for September, with 93% of children being allocated a place at their first preference school.

Cornwall Council received 5,802 applications for reception places for pupils in Cornwall to start school in September 2017. 

Of those, 5,416 (93.4 %) have been offered a place at their first preference school, an increase on last year’s figure of 92.5%. 98% of applicants have been offered a place at a school they named as one of three preferences on their application form. 

Jane Black, the council’s service director for education and early years, said: ’As reflected nationally we are seeing increasing pressure on primary school places in Cornwall, so these figures are a testament to the work that goes into planning and allocating places and the support from our schools.’

Cornwall has 227 schools with reception classes and this year 92 of these schools are full after the first round of allocations compared to 104 at this time last year. 

This number is expected to increase as late applications for places are processed over the next few weeks.

Among the areas in Cornwall which are experiencing particular pressure on reception places for this September are Bodmin, Redruth, Helston, Wadebridge and Saltash, with some towns full to capacity.