MORE Devon children have been offered their first choice county primary school for this September despite a rise in applications, new figures reveal.

In all, 94.9% of families have been offered their first preference school compared with 94.2% last year.

And 98.5% of Devon children have been offered a place at one of their three preferred primary schools.

Figures released today show that 98.5% of the families who applied to Devon County Council for a place in a county primary have got one of their three preferences with 3.1% offered their second preference and 0.47% their third preference.

In all 7,901 applications for a primary place were received this year compared to 7,803 last year.

Devon County Council’s cabinet member for schools, James McInnes, said: ‘There has continued to be considerable pressure on primary school places this year and we have been working hard to expand the number of places that are available.

‘It is therefore very gratifying that we have been able to improve our offer of first-preference schools this year and also accommodate the vast majority of children in one of their three preferred schools.

‘This is a testament to the hard work of the dedicated staff who work in our admissions and school place planning teams and the partnership and cooperation we have received from the heads and governors of Devon’s primary schools.

‘These are obviously very early statistics and are quite likely to improve even more before September as appeals are heard and other factors are taken into account, such as parents not taking up places they have been offered.’