Parents applying for primary schools in Hammersmith and Fulham are seriously disadvantaged when trying to get their children a place in their chosen schools.
That is the finding of the The Good Schools Guide, which says mums and dads in the borough face a tougher task getting their kids into their preferred choice of school than others in the capital.
The guide says primary and secondary places at good schools in Hammersmith and Fulham are hard to come by, and uses government figures from 2016 to back up its argument.
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The statistics reveal that 71.9% – the second lowest in the country - of applicants to primary schools received a place at their first choice school, meaning a third had to accept schools that are either further from home or of a lower standard than they wanted for their children.
Hammersmith and Fulham council said the issue is an unfortunate result of having "fantastic schools" in the borough.
The figures show an 11-year-old in the borough has 52% chance of attending their first choice of secondary school, compared with the rest of London at 69% , and the rest of England which was 84%.
The news will be particularly concerning to parents of young children, who must make their primary school choices before the application deadline next month (January 15).
The Good Schools Guide said Hammersmith and Fulham is the worst in the country at providing children with a place at any of their preferred secondary schools, with this year’s figures showing 16% of all children in the borough failed to receive a place at any of the six schools they are allowed to list in their application.
Beth Noakes, editor of The Good Schools Guide’s London North and London South, said the borough has a serious problem.
“There are fantastic state schools at both primary and secondary level in Hammersmith and Fulham, some of the best in London, in fact," she said.
“Not surprisingly, many of the highest achieving schools in the borough are hugely oversubscribed.
"On top of that, attaining a place at one of these schools can be even harder as many of them are allowed to select children according to religious criteria.
“Children applying to these faith schools from outside the borough who fulfil the religious criteria are often awarded a place ahead of children from Hammersmith and Fulham.”
She added: “Hammersmith and Fulham has well above the London average for faith primaries and secondaries which admit pupils according to religious criteria.
"As a result, many families who do not attend church miss out on the good school down the road and are potentially left to compete for places at the remaining good schools which do not apply religious criteria.
“Many children will end up, at worst, with an underperforming school and at best, with schools that are geographically inconvenient.”
A spokesman for Hammersmith and Fulham Council said: "Our fantastic schools consistently perform at a very high level and are heavily over-subscribed as a result.
"Unfortunately, this means some people can miss out on their top preferences.
“We also have some very popular faith schools which attract applications from across London.
“We have expanded and continue to closely review the number of available places and are able to offer every child in the borough a place at a local school.”
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