TWO in five Slough children missed out on a place at their first choice secondary school - the worst figure in England outside of London.

Shock figures, released by the Department for Education, reveal just 60.8% of 11-year-olds starting school this month were offered their preferred school on national offer day back in March - the joint fourth worst in England including London boroughs.

One in 13 children (7.3%) also missed out on a place at one of their six preferred schools - the second worst in England.

Mum Kerry Ellis, of Swabey Road, Langley, has two children who both missed out on their first choice school, The Langley Academy.

Eldest son Kie, now 12, attends Churchmead CofE School, in Datchet, which was his second choice. Kieran, 11, has recently started at Ditton Park Academy, after missing out on The Langley Academy.

He did get a place at his second choice, Churchmead, but opted for the new academy, which was a separate application form. Miss Ellis said: “It has had a big impact on my life and my parenting. It’s been really stressful.” She added she can not afford to pay the £440 annual bus fare so her 12-year-old son has to cycle to Datchet everyday.

Slough Borough Council said it expects the figures to improve as new schools open in the area.

A spokeswoman said: “Slough has a high proportion of highly regarded grammar schools, which means there are many more applicants for these schools than places available. This has an impact on the number of Slough parents who are offered a place at their first preference school.” She added: “The position is improving each year. In 2012, 41% of applicants received an offer at their first preference school, but this increased to 55% in 2013 and 61% in 2014.

“We expect a further increase next year as new schools open in the area to meet the demand for places.” In Buckinghamshire, which historically has a similar situation with grammar schools, 78.1% of children secured their first choice schools - the third worst in the South East behind Slough and Bracknell Forest - and 4% of did not get a place at any of their preferred choices.

In the Royal Borough, 80.5% of pupils got their first choice and 5.8% missed out on their preferences altogether - 3.3% did not receive an offer at all.

The South East average for children getting into their first choice secondary school is 86% and 2.9% for missing out on all preferences. The England average is 85.2% and 2.6% respectively.