Most Essex children will be going to the secondary school of their parents’ choice in the 2025-26 academic year.

Essex County Council says that nearly 93% of children have been offered their parents’ first or second preference, with all but 3% of the 16,758 pupils in the cohort being offered one of their named preferences.

Nearly 84% were offered their parents’ first preference, slightly less than for the current year when there were 81 more pupils requiring a school place.

Full breakdown of figures for 2025

• 83.86% of children offered 1st preference school
• 8.72% of children offered 2nd preference school
• 2.70% of children offered 3rd preference school
• 1.13% of children offered 4th preference school
• 0.54% of children offered 5th preference school
• 0.24% of children offered 6th preference school
• 2.81% of parents could not be offered a preference and have been offered a place at the nearest school with capacity
• Total number of applicants = 16,758

Full breakdown of figures for 2024

• 84.14% of children offered 1st preference school
• 8.65% of children offered 2nd preference school
• 2.28% of children offered 3rd preference school
• 0.96% of children offered 4th preference school
• 0.49% of children offered 5th preference school
• 0.23% of children offered 6th preference school
• 3.25% of parents could not be offered a preference and have been offered a place at the nearest school with capacity
• Total number of applicants = 17,039