Thousands of pupils have found out whether they will start at their chosen secondary school in September.

Essex County Council sent out more than 14,000 letters and emails to parents informing them which school they would be attending.

Just over 85 per cent were offered their first choice, with 7.78 per cent getting their second preference.

This is a slight drop from last year where 94.02 per cent were offered their first or second choice.

Almost 2.5 per cent of parents this year were not given any of their top six choices and were instead offered a place at the nearest school with space.

Cabinet member for education and lifelong learning, councillor Ray Gooding, said: “It is promising to see that 93.05 per cent of parents have been offered their first or second preference.

“We have some fantastic secondary schools in Essex and we will continue to work closely with them to strive to provide young people with a world class education system.

“I would like to wish all pupils and parents every success in their new chapter of learning.”