Thousands of parents find out if their child has a place at their preferred primary school today.

In Brighton and Hove more than 94% of schoolchildren have been offered one of their three preferred schools in this year's primary age admissions round.

A total of 82.5% were offered their first preference, down from 84% last year.

And 169 children have not been offered any of their three preferences, representing 5.8% - up from 4.85% last year.

Their parents must now wait for the council to find their closest school with places.

Pressure areas include the south of Hove and Saltdean.

The council said it had created 345 new reception class places since 2005 in areas of greatest demand to try and combat the problem.

And this year will see a new form of entry at West Hove Infant School as well as a controversial bulge class at Davigdor Infant School.

This year the city saw an increase in applicants from 2,763 in 2013/14 to 2,933.

The rise was expected with the number of children at primary school age in Brighton and Hove likely to peak in 2015.

Pinaki Ghoshal, Brighton and Hove City Council's director of children's services, , said: “I'm pleased that we have been able to offer such a high proportion of parents one of their preferred schools, particularly given that the number of applications is up by 170 this year.”

In East Sussex 86% of pupils got their first choice, down from 87.7% last year, while 5% got none of their choices, up from 4.8% last year.

East Sussex saw a rise in applications from 5,311 last year to 5,590.

In West Sussex, 89.96% of applicants - including those made late - were offered their first choice, down slightly from 90% last year, while 97.15% were offered one of their three preferences - down from 97.3% last year.

In total West Sussex offered 11,216 places, up from 11,099 places in 2013. Of these 10,890 were applications made on time, 295 were late applications and 31 children have been allocated a place though no application was received.

Today is the first so-called “national offer day” for primary schools when parents across the country find out about their applications.

Have you got your preferred school? If not, how far will your child have to travel to school?

We want to hear how the primary school places issue has affected you. Call reporter Peter Truman on 01273 544682 or email peter.truman@theargus.co.uk.