THE number of applicants who have received a place at their first choice primary school in North Yorkshire has dropped slightly this year.

In 2018, 94.4 per cent of parents or carers of primary age children secured their first school preference in North Yorkshire.

The county council’s figures show that 98.6 per cent of families in the county secured one of their top three preferences.

The percentage of families achieving their first preference has fallen by 1.4 per cent between 2017 and 2018.

All children within North Yorkshire have secured a primary school place, following 5,734 applications.

As reported in The Press earlier this week, 94.2 per cent of York school applicants have been given a place at their first choice primary schools in the city this year, while 99.4 per cent got one of their first three preferences.