Record numbers of appeals over school place applications in a borough are down to high birth rates for some year groups, the council has said.

Blackburn with Darwen Council said it recognised the national challenges around school places but had still been successful in placing most children in their first preference school.

Figures from the Department of Education show 416 appeals were lodged in the borough by the start of the 2023-24 school year – up from 379 the year before and the highest since comparable records began in 2015-16.

Across the country, 56,000 school admissions appeals for 2023-24 were lodged, up by seven per cent on the year before.

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Cllr Julie Gunn, the council’s deputy leader and executive member for children, young people, and education, said: “In Blackburn with Darwen we have been successful in placing children, with 99.1 per cent of primary-aged pupils being offered one of their three preference schools, on which 91.1 per cent were offered their first-preference school.

“In the secondary phase of education slightly fewer pupils at 91 per cent were offered one of their three preference schools compared to 92 per cent in September 2023, however for both September 2023 and September 2024, 75 per cent of pupils making an application for a secondary place were offered their first preference school.

“We recognise the national challenges around school places but in BwD, the percentage preference offers are less in the secondary phase of education due to place pressures attributable to high birth rates for those year groups.”

Of the appeals lodged in Blackburn with Darwen, 344 were heard by an appeals panel - 40 of them (12 per cent) - were successful.

This was lower than the rate across England where 8,490 of the 42,345 appeals (20 per cent) heard were successful.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: "Starting a new school is a huge moment in a child’s life, so it is understandable that getting their first choice is a priority for parents and it is right that they have access to a clear and fair appeal process to try to secure this.

"The problem is that the increasingly fragmented school system lacks a coordinated approach to place planning."

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He added local authorities retain responsibility for ensuring sufficient school places, but "no longer have the powers and resources needed to do so".

"This means planning can appear haphazard, decisions are often made in isolation without considering the implications for local families, and as a result new schools and places are not always commissioned where they are most needed," he said.

A Department of Education spokesperson said: "It is the responsibility of the local authority to ensure there are sufficient school places for pupils who need them.

"Each school has an admission authority to set its admission arrangements including the oversubscription criteria it will use to allocate school places if more applications are received than there are places available."