Parents with pre-school children, and possibly their youngsters, will be celebrating.

More than nine out of 1en four-year-olds have been allocated a place at their first choice of primary school come September.

Swindon Borough Council’s School Admissions team been able to place 95 per cent of children entering Reception class this year at their main preference of school while 99 per cent will attend one of their three preferences.

Parents started to get emails yesterday from the council, letting them know where their children have been placed for the next academic year.

At 95 per cent, this year’s first preference rate is higher than last year’s, and the overall number of applications received on time was 2,755.

Peter Nathan, Swindon Borough Council’s Head of Education, said: “The admissions team have done a really great job this year. A lot of planning goes into ensuring that we have enough school places for our children, which has meant expanding schools and building new ones.

“We now have an online system for applications which is more efficient and also saves money. We are never satisfied, however, and we will be working to improve these figures so they are even better next year.”

This September, three new schools will be opening their doors in Swindon for the first time, two of which are primary schools; The Deanery CofE Academy secondary in Wichelstowe, William Morris Primary School in Tadpole Garden Village and Badbury Park Primary School at Badbury Park. It is the first time that this many schools have opened simultaneously.

Parents with regarding secondary school places for this September should contact schooladmissions@swindon.gov.uk or the school directly.