Appeals against secondary school offers have doubled in six years, figures suggest, with record numbers expected to miss out on their first choice place today.

More than half a million families will learn this morning which school their child will attend in September, in what has become known as National Offer Day.

The number of pupils who fail to get a place at their preferred school is expected to increase by up to a third compared to last year in some parts of the country following an application surge.

Around 115,000 children across England will be left disappointed due to a continuing shortage of places, according to analysis by The Good Schools Guide.

Pupils in London are most likely to miss out, with half of the capital’s local authorities said to be at “breaking point” over places.

Research suggests that 34 per cent of all London children will start at secondary schools that are not their first preference.

It is the sixth consecutive year that demand for places has sharply increased following a rise in birth rates that peaked in 2010/11. It is not due to plateau for another three or four years.

Increasing numbers are choosing to lodge appeals against their offers, crippling stretched local authorities and heaping work on academy chains.