Merton Council has said it offered a primary school place to every Merton child whose family applied for one this year.

A council statement said eight out of 10 families have been offered a reception place for their child at their first choice of primary school and 92 per cent of applicants received an offer for one of their top three schools.

Cabinet member for education, Cllr Caroline Cooper-Marbiah, said: “Starting primary school is such an important milestone in every child’s life and so we are delighted that we have been able to offer places for all the Merton families who applied for one this year.”

Almost 95 per cent of families were said to have been offered a place for their child to start in September at one of the schools named on their application form.

The statement added that every Merton family who applied for a reception place was offered one, despite a rise in applications this year to 2,553 from 2,508 last year.

Families across Merton were given the news on Tuesday evening on the primary place allocations, which are co-ordinated for the London Boroughs by the Pan London Admissions Board.