Thousands of parents will be frantically checking emails today to find out if their children got into their school of choice.

Nearly 96% of primary-aged children in Medway have been offered one of their preferred places at secondary school for the 2014/15 academic year.

Those who provided an email address on their application form will be sent details after 4pm.

Of the 2,984 Medway children offered places, 82% got their first choice.

Parents were given the chance to choose six options, in order of preference; 10% got their second choice, 3% their third choice and the remaining 5% were assigned to schools lower down on their list.

A spokeswoman for Medway Council said the admissions process for Medway was “a huge task” this year with 3,421 applications processed, including 437 from children outside Medway.

Cllr Mike O’Brien, head of children’s services, said: “Finding out which secondary school your child has been allocated is always a major event for families.

“I am happy that a vast majority of children have been offered one of their preference places.”

The number of successful pupils is slightly down on the current academic year, when 96.8% of children were placed in one of their top four secondary schools and 85.9% got their first choice.

The figures for the number of children of reception age getting a place in their desired school were not available but on the last offer day 96% got a place in their preferred schools and of those 88% were top choices.

Barbara Peacock, Children and Adult Services’ boss, added: “I’m pleased that lots of children have gained places at one of their chosen schools.

“In Medway there is a great selection of secondary schools and I wish all children the very best for their years of education ahead of them.”