HUNDREDS more Leeds children have been given offers for their first preference secondary schools, according to council figures.

Leeds City Council says 8407 children will attend one of their top five preferred schools in 2018 - an increase of 231 from 8176 last year.

Leeds City Council has made 8881 year seven offers this year, an overall increase of 426 from 2017. But officials say despite the significant increase, 7290 children will be attending their first preference school in September - an increase of 112 from last year and 432 from 2016.

The number of children not getting a place at any of their five preferred secondary schools was 474, up from 279 last year.

Councillor Lisa Mulherin, executive member for children and families said: “Our ambition is for Leeds to be the best city to live and grow up in. Education is an incredibly important part of this and while I am pleased that we have been able to increase the number of young people attending their first preference school this is getting more and more challenging to achieve as pupil numbers rise.

“The increase in primary school pupil numbers we have seen in the last ten years is now starting to making itself felt in the secondary phase which is why we are starting to bring forward options for increasing the amount of secondary provision in some areas of the city.”