As applications for next year’s school places open, figures reveal that more secondary schools are oversubscribed than ever before. Official data shows that more than two in five parents didn’t get their first choice of a place at Coventry's most oversubscribed school, Sidney Stringer Academy.

In the last round of applications, 387 parents put the school as their first choice of secondary, with only 220 being offered a place for this school year - just 57%. Eden Girls' School Coventry was the next-most difficult secondary to get into in the city.

Just 106 of the 182 parents who put it down as a first choice received an offer for a place this year, figures showed. It was followed by Finham Park 2, where only 144 of the 233 parents who picked it as their preferred school were offered a place.

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Meanwhile, All Saints Church of England Primary School was the most difficult primary school to get into in Coventry - 47 parents put it as their first choice for this year, but only 27 were offered a place. Also making it into the top three most oversubscribed primaries were Sidney Stringer Primary Academy (94 first choices to 59 offers) and John Shelton Community Primary School (46 to 29).

The top schools in Warwickshire were even more in-demand according to the data. In the last round of applications, 239 parents put Alcester Grammar School as their first choice of secondary, but only 75 were offered a place for this school year - just 31%.

King Edward VI School in Stratford-upon-Avon was the county's next-most difficult secondary to get into. Just 81 of the 229 parents who put it down as first choice received an offer for a place.

That was followed by Stratford Girls' Grammar School where only 105 of the 271 parents who picked it as their preferred school were offered a place. Meanwhile, Temple Grafton CofE Primary School was the most difficult primary to get into in Warwickshire.

A total of 24 parents put it as their first choice for this year, but only 10 were offered a place. Clifton-upon-Dunsmore CofE Primary School in Rugby was the second-hardest to access (47 first choices to 25 offers) followed by Milby Primary School in Nuneaton (81 to 50).

The figures reveal that two in every three secondaries in England were oversubscribed this year - with 66% seeing more parents putting them down as a first choice than were offered a place. That’s the highest proportion since these figures began in 2014/15, and up from 57% at that time.

In comparison, primary schools are much easier to get into, with fewer than one in three oversubscribed this year - down from nearly half of primaries nine years ago. Part of the reason oversubscription is getting worse in secondary schools is that there are simply more children entering high school now, thanks to a baby boom 11 years ago.

Meanwhile, primary schools are likely becoming less competitive due to a drop in births seen from 2016 onwards. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "There is extra pressure on secondary admissions as the pupil population bulge that has been moving through primary schools is currently hitting secondary schools.

"Many schools are particularly oversubscribed, especially in certain areas of the country. Until the government creates a national strategy to guarantee there are enough school places for every child in England, the annual anxious wait for families will continue."

The Department for Education said: "The vast majority of families will be offered a place at one of their preferred schools and most will be offered their top place. We have already created over one million school places in the last decade - the largest increase in school capacity for at least two generations."

Use our interactive widget below to see how oversubscribed the schools are in your area:

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