Thousands of children missed out on a place at their preferred school in the West Midlands this year, official Department for Education figures show.
Across England, 8% of primary school applicants and 17% of secondary school applicants did not get a place at their first choice school, affecting nearly 150,000 children in total.
In the West Midlands, 12,367 of applicants did not get into their first choice secondary school. This meant 18.5% of secondary aged children did not get a place at their first choice school - higher than the national average.
Inner London was found to have the hardest schools to get into in the country. One in every eight children (13%) did not get into their first choice primary school. This rose to one in three (33%) for secondary school places.
Secondary school applications in Solihull are currently still open for the 2023 school year. The deadline closes on Monday, October 31.
How competitive is it to get into your local secondary school? Here we reveal which Solihull secondary schools are the most in demand.
Here are the top 10 hardest Solihull secondary schools to get into
5. Grace Academy, Fordbridge
The school had 234 first preference applications for its 172 places. 68.8% of those who put it down first got in Photo: Google Street View
6. Lode Heath School, Solihull
The school had 198 first preference applications for its 237 places. 74.7% of those who put it down first got in Photo: Google Street View
7. Arden School, Knowle
The school had 375 first preference applications for its 298 places. 75.2% of those who put it down first got in Photo: Google Street View
8. John Henry Newman Catholic College, Fordbridge
The school had 269 first preference applications for its 236 places, with 77.3%% of those who put it down first getting into the school Photo: Google Street View