MANY children in the district are missing out on places in their preferred schools because their parents are filling out application forms incorrectly.

Bradford Council’s admissions team says that on the “top five” preference lists, some parents are listing the same school five times in a bid to get their choice.

Although the percentage of families obtaining their first choice schools went up this year, 89.86 per cent for primary schools and 77 per cent for secondary schools, there were still a number of families missing out on any of their top preferences.

When parents apply for a school place, they are told to give their top five choice schools so that even if they miss out on a place at their first, they will still be allocated a slot at a school they have shown a preference for.

This year, 106 families (1.36 per cent) did not get into any primary school they put a preference for, and 319 families (4.07 per cent) did not get any of their secondary school preferences.

An annual report into school admissions, which went before Bradford Council’s children’s services scrutiny committee, said: “Unfortunately, some parents continue to disregard the advice given by the admissions team."

Discussing the report at the meeting, Councillor Sinead Engel said: “I still get parents coming to me to say they haven’t got the schools they want for their child. The instructions for applying for places are clear to me, but some parents don’t seem to see it as clearly.”

Rachel Phillips, strategic leader for admissions, said: “I don’t know how we can tell parents more clearly.

“All the information is on the front page of the forms we give to them."