MORE Swindon parents who applied for primary school places for September were given their first choice compared to last year.

This morning, parents across the town were notified where their youngsters have been allocated to go to primary school from the next autumn term.

This year, Swindon Borough Council received 2,847 applications before the deadline for places at primary schools across the town.

Of the parents who applied, 93 per cent were given their first preference out of up to three preferred choices - up from 92 per cent last year despite the council receiving more applications than in 2014.

Meanwhile, This year 98.1 per cent of parents were given one of their three preferences, compared to 98 per cent in 2014.

More parents have received their preffered choices compared to last year despite an increase in applications.  Last year, the council received 2,729 on-time applications for places.

A total of 2,298 applications were made online by the deadline of January 15 this year and parents who did so will receive an email today notifying them of the school place allocated to their child if they requested it. Letters have also been sent out to all parents today with the outcome of the application process.
 
Applicants who submitted their preferences after the deadline were offered a place at the next nearest school with a place available at that time, if their preferred school was oversubscribed at that point. However, the admissions team have been able to offer most late applications their preferred school.
 
Priority for places was determined by the admission criteria for the school in question.