ALMOST every parent in East Yorkshire has succeeded in securing a place for their child at their preferred school as education chiefs reveal pupil numbers are dropping.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council has confirmed that, of the 3,167 application it received for school places for next year, 3,102 will be told they will be given their first choice.

Only eight children have had to be given places at schools where their parents did not express a preference, with seven of these still having a place at a school within their catchment area.

Letters informing parents of the outcome of their applications were today being sent out by the council, which says the number of Year Six children in East Yorkshire primary schools who will move up to secondary education in September being the smallest on record.

Only three secondary schools, Beverley Grammar, Beverley High and South Hunsley High, have been able to fill all their available places and the district will see less than 3,500 Year Seven pupils on its roll next year, a drop of 200.

Alison Michalska, the council’s director of children, family and adult services, said: “The high proportion of parents getting places at schools they want their children to go to and the high proportion using our online form shows we are providing a good, effective and easily-accessible service. The key problem for the future will be the effects of falling numbers of children feeding into our secondary schools. We have successful and popular schools, but there are fewer children in primary schools and therefore fewer progressing on to secondary education.”