More than 70 per cent of Richmond primary school pupils received offers for their first choice secondary schools.

Almost 1,700 pupils - up from 1,500 last year - were offered year 7 places for September, with 71.58 per cent receiving their first choice.

In total, 89.17 per cent received an offer for one of their top three school preferences and children not allocated a place at one of their preferred schools have been offered an alternative place within Richmond. The results came through on Monday, March 3.

Richmond Council cabinet member for schools Councillor Paul Hodgins said he was delighted with the number of children who received their first choice offers.

He said: “The standard of education within Richmond is high, with three of our secondary schools now rated as outstanding by Ofsted, which is why it is difficult to offer everyone their first choice.

“Yet standards in education in Richmond are continuing to rise further.

“The latest results show the borough’s schools achieved the second highest baccalaureate results in the country while the number of pupils who achieved five or more GCSE passes in English and maths is now among the top 20 across England.

“The council continues to work hard with our schools and local educational partners to ensure there are enough high quality school places.”

In neighbouring Kingston, only 67.25 per cent of pupils received offers from their first choice schools, but in Hounslow the figure was 72.49 per cent.

In 2014, the proportion of offers for Richmond schools have made to out-of-borough residents has dropped to 23.5 per cent, compared with 27.5 per cent in 2013.

Councillor Gareth Roberts, Liberal Democrat spokesman for education, said: “I would like to offer my congratulations to council officers for, once again, doing an excellent job in the face of limited resources.

“It is interesting to note that the number of applications rose by 200 in just one year, from 1,500 to 1,700.

“Obviously this is largely due to the primary school bulge now beginning to work its way through the system but is also testament to the popularity and improved performance of our secondary schools which is thanks, in no small part, to the secondary school improvement and investment programme put in place by the previous Lib Dem administration.”