More than 70% of London children applying to secondary schools in September have got their preferred choice, a report has revealed.
The Pan London Admissions Scheme (PLAS) said there were 90,348 applications for secondary school places, a decrease of 2.48% compared to last year.
PLAS warned the reduction could impact funding for schools, who will now face “difficult decisions” around budgets.
It comes as offers were emailed out on Friday evening.
The report found that 81,324 children – 90% of all who applied – were offered a place at one of their top three preferences of secondary school.
A total of 63,757 Year 6 pupils – about 70% – got into their first preference school.
Chairman of the Pan-London Admissions Board, Jon Abbey, said it had been a “huge task” to combine eligibility criteria and number of school places “to ensure the best outcome for London’s children”.
While London is the best performing region at GCSE level, with 90% of schools rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, there was a drop in admissions compared to last year.
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It warned that a reduction in school places would impact funding and that schools would face “further difficult decisions to balance their budgets”.
It said: “This could mean narrowing the curriculum, offering fewer after school clubs or reducing the number of teaching and support staff.”
PLAS said application numbers were affected by a number of reasons, including the falling birth rate across London and migration, especially with a “localised effect of the UK leaving the EU”.
Councillor Ian Edwards, London Councils’ Executive Member for Children and Young People, said the results were “positive”.
“London’s population has always ebbed and flowed, so it is likely that the birth rate will pick up in due course,” Mr Edwards explained.
He said local authorities would have work closely with communities, schools and other local services to “ensure that we don’t lose vital assets”.
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