New primary school pupils in Bucks fared the worst with the allocation of school places, announced yesterday.
Around 85.2 per cent of received their first preference, two per cent down on last year. Although Bucks County Council has found places for an extra316 pupils, making a total of 6,160 applications.
Of those, 270 children did not receive any of their preferences at all.
In Northants there were 8,830 applications for a primary school place, up by 3.5 per cent on last year, representing an extra 299 pupils.
First choice schools were given to 88.5 per cent of parents while 282 pupils were placed at schools which were not on their preference list.
Almost 90 per cent of Oxfordshire children (89.09) were offered a place at their first choice school, a total of 6,722 pupils. Applications were up by five per cent, representing a total of 7,545.
For the first time primary school places were all allocated on the same day, nationally.
The Department for Education says primary school populations are increasing with an extra 200,000 enrolling in 2013.