Tens of thousands of five-year-olds are missing out on their family’s first choice of primary school, new figures reveal. In some areas of England, more than 1,000 children are not getting into their preferred option.

A survey conducted by the Press Association, reveal that 42 out of 150 local authorities in England show 16,800 children not getting a reception class place at their preferred school.

In Birmingham and Kent more than 1,600 have not been allocated a place at their first choice, and in Hampshire that figure was more than 1,200.

These are among the biggest local authorities, and have larger amounts of children.

It comes as education lawyers warned that the numbers of parents appealing against their school allocation are rising rapidly.

Later this week, the Government will publish new data showing how many parents are appealing against both primary and secondary school decisions.

Government figures published in March showed that almost 92,000 11-year-olds failed to gain a place at their first choice of secondary school this year.

The figures are likely to show a rise, particularly because parents who would usually take out a loan against their property to pay for private school fees are unable to do this now due to the recession, meaning there is more of a strain on places at state schools.