MORE than 95 per cent of York children starting at primary school in September have got their first choice of school, new figures show.

The City of York Council statistics show that 95.9 per cent of children have been given their first choice, and 99.1 per cent got one of their first three preferences.

A spokeswoman said all children within the local authority area had secured a primary school place and the percentage of online applications has continued to increase, with 99 per cent of parents and carers applying for their child’s school place this way.

“Parents who applied online will be notified of their child’s place by email at 10am today, letters are being posted today to parents and those with online accounts can log in to the council’s parent portal at www.york.gov.uk/parentportal.”

North Yorkshire County Council said 94 per cent of families of primary age children secured their first choice of school for their child, and just over 98 per cent of families secured one of their top three preferences.

The figure remains consistently high in comparison with many other places in the country, said a spokeswoman.

“This is very good news for North Yorkshire families,” said Stuart Carlton, corporate director of children and young people’s services.

“We are pleased that so many families continue to gain the first preference from their choice of schools and that the percentage remains consistently high.

“As a local authority we work hard with all North Yorkshire schools to ensure they deliver the highest standards of education so that families who are not given first preferences can still send their children to good schools.”