THE majority of students across Lancashire will be starting at their preferred secondary school in September, admissions figures show.

However most schools across the area continue to be oversubscribed with hundreds of parents fighting to get their children into the top schools.

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Figures show there were 891 applicants for Blessed Trinity RC College in Burnley which offered 250 places while 782 applied for St Christopher’s CE School in Accrington which had 195 places on offer.

More than 700 people also applied for Haslingden High School which had 270 places.

However Rhyddings Business and Enterprise School still has 116 places available and Fearns Community College in Stacksteads 112 places.

Hameldon Community College, Norden High School and Mount Carmel RC High School also still have places available with just 35 putting Hameldon as their first choice, a fall from 40 last year.

Paul Trickett, headteacher at Rhyddings, said the number of offers made is based on the footprint of the school, some of which includes disused buildings and they are looking to reduce the number to around 140.

In Lancashire more than 88 per cent of students got into their first preference school while in Blackburn with Darwen 79.2 per cent will be offered their first preference. More than 98 per cent in Lancashire got one of their three choices while 94 per cent did in Blackburn with Darwen.

Blackburn with Darwen Council would not release the figures for individual schools.

Dave Harling, executive member for schools and education, said: “These figures show that we are improving year on year as last year’s figures recorded that 91 per cent were offered one their first three choices.

“It is important that parents are able to choose where their children are educated and everyone in the system is working hard to ensure that that happens.

“However, there are some schools which are oversubscribed so there are a small minority of families who will not get their first choices.”

Cllr Matthew Tomlinson, cabinet member for children, young people and schools, said: “School places are allocated fairly and objectively, and every application is agreed upon using the criteria which have been agreed for that school.”

He added there’s still a lot of movement with the allocation of school places between now and September.

Simon Jones, Lancashire representative for the National Union of Teachers, warned the admissions process risks becoming more fragmented as more schools become academies.

“The Government should end the practice of schools being their own admission authorities and restore this role to local authorities to ensure that admissions are fair and that there is neither overt nor covert ‘selection’ in the system.”