A lower proportion of Brighton and Hove pupils have places at their first choice secondary school than in most others parts of the country.
The 81.17 per cent figure for Brighton and Hove – just over eight out of ten – is better than every London borough and beats Birmingham.
But, outside the capital, few local education authorities have reported a lower figure than for pupils in Brighton and Hove.
In East Sussex, for example, more than nine in ten 11-year-olds – or 90.49 per cent – will be able to go to the school of their choice. In West Sussex the figure is 87.5 per cent.
Dozens of local education authorities reported comparable or better figures.
One parent said that talk of a new secondary school appeared to be just talk, although the King’s School, a Church of England free school in Portslade, had opened in 2013.
And that the patch and mend approach to a shortage of primary school places now looked as though it was going to be extended to secondary schools.
