MORE than 99 percent of  children  starting primary school in Lancashire - including Pendle - in September have been offered a place at one of their three preferred primary schools.

In total, 12,159 children have been offered primary places in the county. Confirmatory emails have been sent to families today (Tuesday) to those who applied online and an offer letter to those who submitted a paper application.

Families that wish to seek more information about appeals or waiting lists have been given contact telephone numbers and email addresses for the three area School Admissions Teams.

This information is also available on the Lancashire County Council website along with details about the appeals process if families have not been allocated a school that works for them.

Jacqui Old CBE, Executive Director of Education and Children's Services, said: "We are absolutely delighted to confirm that thousands of youngsters will be attending the school that is their parents' first preference. A young child starting school is such an important life event, so many families will be delighted that their child is going to the school of their choice.

"Our team has worked very hard to process more than 12,000 applications and know that the overwhelming majority of parents will be happy with their school offer.

"We also acknowledge that a very small number of pupils have not been allocated one of their preferred schools. Where this is the case, we would encourage parents to talk to their local School Admissions Team about the options open to them."

In line with a declining national birth rate, there was a slight drop in the number of primary school applications made this year compared with the previous year, when they rose slightly, and compared with 2022.