Ensuring your child has the best possible education is a priority for most parents and many will assume they will be able to secure a place at the best possible school.
However, recently published Government data shows this is not necessarily the case with thousands of children missing out on a place at their preferred schools.
Across England, applications for the current academic year resulted in eight per cent of primary school applicants and 17 per cent of secondary school applicants not getting a place at their first choice school, affecting nearly 150,000 children in total.
Across the North East, 10.8 per cent of pupils did not receive an offer for their selected secondary schools.
So just how competitive is it to get into your local secondary school? Here we reveal the five oversubscribed South Tyneside secondary schools which are the hardest to get into.
Across England, applications for the current academic year resulted in eight per cent of primary school applicants and 17 per cent of secondary school applicants not getting a place at their first choice school, affecting nearly 150,000 children in total.