Across England, 8% of primary school applicants and 17% of secondary school applicants did not get a place at their first choice school for 2022/2023, affecting nearly 150,000 children in total.
Inner London was found to have the hardest secondary schools to get into in the country, with 30% of children not getting their first choice secondary school, whilst the North West had 15% not get their first secondary chool choice.
In Lancashire, 66 secondary schools made the oversubscribed list, and 28 of these were in Preston, Chorley and South Ribble.
How competitive is it to get into your secondary school? Here we reveal which secondary schools in Preston, Chorley and South Ribble are the hardest to get into, ranked from highest to lowest.
All the information is from Department of Education data released in June, which you can download here.
21. Lostock Hall Academy (ranked 42nd)
Lostock Hall Academy had 146 applicants put the school as a first preference but only135 of these were offered places. This means 11 pupils did not get a place. Photo: Google Maps
22. Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy (ranked 44th)
Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy had 198 applicants put the school as a first preference but only 184 of these were offered places. This means 14 pupils did not get a place. Photo: Google Maps
23. Penwortham Girls' High School (ranked 45th)
Penwortham Girls' High School had 139 applicants put the school as a first preference but only 130 of these were offered places. This means 9 pupils did not get a place. Photo: Google Maps
24. Tarleton Academy (ranked 46th)
Tarleton Academy had 149 applicants put the school as a first preference but only 140 of these were offered places. This means 9 pupils did not get a place. Photo: Google Maps