HUNDREDS of children have failed to get into the schools of their parents choice.

Some 289 across Hampshire, including 123 in Southampton, did not get into any of their mum and dads nominated three.

But the figures showed an improvement on the previous year when 550 across the county were disappointed including 128 in Southampton.

Most of four and five-year-olds across Hampshire managed to get into their top places today, it has been revealed.

Over 90 per cent percent of those applying for a primary school place were offered their first choice, while 98.1 per cent percent got one of their top three.

Numbers in Southampton also increased, with 85.1 per cent getting their preferred school and 10.7 per cent secured their second or third choice.

Figures show Hampshire had a significant rise in demand. Hampshire County Council processed 15,031 applications, almost 569 less than last year.

Cllr Roy Perry, the leader of Hampshire County Council, said the rise in the number of places reflected its commitment to provide an excellent quality of education for all.

He said: “The figures show that Hampshire has a strong commitment to developing the best possible child’s education, we have over £250 million to invest in developing Hampshire’s schools through expansion of classrooms.

“Once you allow free choice of selecting primary schools, you have to consider that demand for school places will often exceed supply.”

Cllr Darren Paffey, portfolio holder for Education on Southampton city council, was unavailable for comment at the time of the release of the figures.

However, unions warn that many parents are set to be disappointed, as they failed to gain their specific places and that it will be "deeply regrettable" that families in England would be hit by a shortage in primary school place across the country.

Andrew Baisley, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) secretary for Southampton, said: “It’s very good news for parents in Hampshire that more pupils have been accepted into Hampshire schools.

“However my fear is that the Department of Education is refusing to let local authorities open any more schools which in the future put severe pressure on school places as demand increases.

“We also need to be sure that funding is maintained for the entirety of the children’s education, the government has broken their election manifesto to ring-fence and protect school funding so who knows what might happen next?”

Kevin Courtney, general secretary of the NUT, added: “All children should have the right to go to a local school and to be taught by qualified teachers.

“We are facing the worst shortage of school places for decades. It is resulting in overcrowded classrooms, often in makeshift buildings that are squeezing out space for playgrounds, for art rooms or music spaces.

But the Department of Education, who spent £5 billion between 2011 and 2015 claimed they were making places readily available as part of their commitment to opening new schools across the country.

A spokesperson said: “We are making more good school places available so thousands of more families have the choice of a good local school.

“We have created almost 735,000 extra school places since 2010, with 92 percent of new primary school places built in 2015-16 created in good or outstanding schools which have meant that last year 96.3% of parents in England received an offer at one of their top three preferred primary schools.”